State Bank, 7 other lenders to sell 20% stake in Yes Bank to Japan’s SMBC for `13,483 crore

New Delhi: State Bank of India (SBI) and seven other lenders on Friday announced selling 20 per cent of their combined stakes in Yes Bank to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) for a consideration of Rs 13,483 crore, making it the largest cross-border investment in the Indian banking sector.

Following completion of the transaction, SMBC will become the single largest shareholder of Mumbai-based Yes Bank.

Of the 20 per cent stake, SBI would dilute 13.19 per cent stake in Yes Bank in favour of SMBC for a consideration of Rs 8,889 crore, while 6.81 per cent shareholding will be offloaded by seven other lenders -- Axis Bank, Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank -- for about Rs 4,594 crore.

SBI and the seven investor lenders had invested in the bank as part of the YES Bank Reconstruction Scheme in March 2020. The share sale is proposed to take place at a price of Rs 21.50 per equity share, it said.

The executive committee of the central board (ECCB) of the bank in the meeting has accorded approval to divest 413.44 crore shares or equivalent to 13.19 per cent stake in Yes Bank for a consideration of Rs 8,888.97 crore, SBI said in a regulatory filing.

SBI, which currently holds 24 per cent stake in Yes Bank, will be left with a little over 10 per cent stake after the dilution.

Among other lenders, HDFC Bank had 2.75 per cent, ICICI Bank 2.39 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank 1.21 per cent, Axis Bank 1.01 per cent, IDFC First Bank 0.92 per cent, Federal Bank 0.76 per cent and Bandhan Bank 0.70 per cent as on March 31, 2025.

“This transaction is the largest cross-border investment in the Indian banking sector...the transaction is a significant milestone to drive YES Bank’s next phase of growth, profitability and value creation and we expect to leverage SMBC’s global expertise in this phase,” Yes Bank said in a separate filing.

The transaction is subject to the necessary regulatory and statutory approvals including from the Reserve Bank of India and Competition Commission of India and will be subject to customary closing conditions, it said.

SMBC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc (SMFG). SMFG is the second largest banking group in Japan with total assets of USD 2 trillion as of December 2024 with strong global presence.

SMBC is among the leading foreign banks in India and SMFG’s wholly-owned subsidiary SMFG India Credit Company Limited is among the largest diversified NBFCs

in India.