Jio Financial to take over Jio Payments Bank shares worth Rs 105 crore from SBI

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Financial Services Ltd on March 4, 2025, announced its acquisition of 7.9 crore shares of Jio Payments Bank from State Bank of India (SBI) for Rs 104.5 crore. This move will result in the payments bank becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Jio Financial Services. Following this development, shares of the non-banking finance company, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, saw a surge of nearly four per cent, reaching an intraday high of Rs 208 on the BSE.

Jio Financial Services currently holds an 82.17 per cent stake in Jio Payments Bank, a collaborative effort between Jio Financial (backed by Reliance Industries) and SBI, the largest state-run lender in the country. With this acquisition, Jio Payments Bank will transition to being a 100 per cent subsidiary of Jio Financial Services.

“The Board of Directors of the company, at its meeting held today, have approved acquisition of 79 million equity shares of Jio Payments Bank from SBI for an aggregate consideration of Rs 104.54 crore”, JFS said in an exchange notification.

JFS’s shares closed at Rs 716.15, up by 3.02 per cent, on Tuesday.

The transaction has been approved by the Board of Directors of Jio Financial and is contingent on approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The completion of the deal is anticipated within 45 days following regulatory clearance.

The company has clarified that the transaction in question is not a related-party deal, and there are no promoters or group entities with any financial interest in the acquisition.

Jio Financial Services saw its consolidated profit remain steady at Rs 295 crore, marking a slight 0.3% increase year-on-year for the third quarter ending in December 2024. The NBFC reported a net profit of Rs 294 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal year. Additionally, its assets under management (AUM) grew to Rs 4,199 crore, up from Rs 1,206 crore in the previous September quarter of FY25.

The executive committee of the Central Board of Directors at SBI has approved the divestment of the bank's entire stake in Jio Payments Bank Limited to Jio Financial Services for Rs 13.22 per equity share, resulting in a total of Rs 104.5 crore. This acquisition values Jio Payments Bank at approximately Rs 586 crore. The transaction is contingent upon receiving regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is anticipated to be finalized within 45 days of obtaining RBI approval, as stated by JFS.

Jio Payments Bank started its operations in April 2018 and has garnered 1.89 million CASA customers as of December 2024.

Currently, India is home to five payments banks, including Airtel Payments Bank, Fino Payments Bank, India Post Payments Bank, NSDL Payments Bank, and Jio Payments Bank.

These banks are authorized to hold a maximum customer deposit of up to Rs 2 lakh but are prohibited from providing credit to their customers. Payment banks can establish and manage their branches while also utilising business correspondents (BCs) as access points. However, BCs are not allowed to carry out offline transactions on behalf of the banks. Unlike traditional commercial banks, payment banks are not mandated to issue passbooks for customer deposit accounts.