Kerala-based private sector lender Catholic Syrian Bank Ltd has received approval from capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its proposed initial public offer (IPO).
The company had filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI in April this year to raise up to Rs 400 crore through a fresh issue of shares including a reservation of up to Rs 10 crore for applications from its eligible employees.
Several other companies like Prabhat Dairy, Syngene International, SSIPL Retail, AGS Transact Technologies, SMC Global, Manpasand Beverages, Navkar Corporation, Power Mech Projects, Precision Camshafts have also received SEBI's nod this year for their proposed IPO. Another PE-backed private lender in the queue for an IPO is RBL Bank.
The volatility in the stock market over the last 2-3 months has led to a temporary pause in the firms actually floating their issues.
Founded in 1920, Catholic Syrian Bank focuses on small and medium enterprises (SME), retail and NRI customers. The bank has four principal business, including SME banking, retail banking, corporate banking and treasury operations.
For the financial year ended March 31, 2014, it posted total revenues of Rs 1,621.3 crore against Rs 1,415 crore in FY13. Its net profit rose from Rs 26.6 crore to Rs 40 crore in the same period.
Since 2007, Catholic Syrian Bank has raised funding from several high net worth individuals besides PE firms such as AIF Capital and Siguler Guff.
It will use the proceeds from the IPO to augment tier-I capital base.
ICICI Securities and Kotak Mahindra Capital are the bankers for proposed IPO.
