CCI okays Japan's SMBC proposal to acquire up to 24.99 pc stake in Yes Bank

New Delhi: Fair trade regulator CCI on Tuesday cleared Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation's proposal to acquire up to 24.99 per cent stake in private sector lender Yes Bank.

SMBC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG). It is among the leading foreign banks in India, and SMFG's wholly-owned subsidiary, SMFG India Credit Company, is among the largest diversified NBFCs in India.

"The proposed combination relates to the acquisition of share capital and voting rights of Yes Bank by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)," the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in a release.

SMFG is the second-largest banking group in Japan, with total assets of USD 2 trillion as of December 2024, and has a strong global presence.

"CCI approves acquisition of certain share capital and voting rights of Yes Bank by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation," the regulator said in a post on X.

Last month, Yes Bank announced that the RBI accorded approval to SMBC to acquire up to 24.99 per cent stake in the lender.

The development follows May 9, 2025, disclosure of Yes Bank about the SMBC's proposed acquisition of a 20 per cent holding in the lender through a secondary stake purchase of 13.19 per cent stake from the State Bank of India and 6.81 per cent share from seven other shareholders.

Other shareholders are Axis Bank, Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The RBI has further clarified that pursuant to the acquisition, SMBC would not be treated as a promoter of the bank, it said.

After the transaction, SMBC becomes the single-largest shareholder of Mumbai-based Yes Bank.

SBI and the seven investor lenders had invested in the bank as part of the Yes Bank reconstruction scheme in March 2020. The state-owned lender currently holds a 24 per cent stake in Yes Bank, and will be left with a little over 10 per cent stake after the dilution.

For the fourth quarter ended March 2025, Yes Bank reported a 63 per cent jump in standalone net profit at Rs 738 crore compared to Rs 451.9 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

In FY25, the bank's net profit doubled to Rs 2,406 crore from Rs 1,251 crore in the preceding fiscal.