Shares of YES Bank Ltd will be on the radar of investors on the back of three key reasons. The private lenders have been struggling to keep the momentum going amid the carnage in the mid and smallcap counters. However, a mix of newsflow has put it again under the spotlight. YES Bank has received approval on March 14, 2024 (Thursday) from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to act as merchant acquiring bank for existing & new UPI merchants for One 97 Communications, the parent entity of fintech player Paytm, said the lender in an exchange filing on Thursday. YES Bank has received an approved for enabling transition of Paytm UPI App (owned by One 97 Communication) – UPI consumer application and UPI collection for offline merchant acquiring via One 97 Communications and online merchants via Paytm Payment Service (PPSL), which were previously managed by Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL), it added. In a separate exchange filing to the bourses, YES Bank gave clarification sought by exchanges, on news articles suggesting that the lender was seeking a new promoter at a valuation of $9 billion. However, the lender denied to comment on the reports, citing them to be speculative in nature. "There are no material events which are required to be disclosed," said YES Bank. Thirdly, traders will be looking if YES Bank will be able to maintain its Thursday's upward momentum. The stock had settled 12 per cent higher at Rs 23.43 on Thursday, after a sharp correction of more than 36 per cent from its 52-week high levels at Rs 32.81, hit on February 9, 2024.
According to the media reports, YES Bank, the sixth-largest private bank, was planning to sell up to 51 per cent of its stake for a target valuation of $9 billion, up from its current market capitalisation. As per the reports, Citigroup's India unit has been enlisted to facilitate the search for a potential buyer. However, Business Today could not verify the information independently.