YES Bank to decide on $1 bn share sale by second half of this fiscal

Private sector lender Yes Bank will take a call in the second half of the current fiscal on its plans for $1 billion (about Rs 6,500 crore) share sale, its chief Rana Kapoor said.

The bank's board has approved a proposal to raise $1 billion by selling shares in local and overseas markets. "We will decide about ADR/GDR or domestic issuance of shares in the second half of the current fiscal," Kapoor, CEO and managing director of Yes Bank said.

The exact time of raising capital would depend on the market conditions, he added.

The board of directors in April empowered the capital raising committee, a sub committee of the board, to raise funds by the way of issuance of equity capital up to $1 billion in one or more tranches on such terms and conditions as it may deem fit.

The share issue may be by way of qualified institutions placement (QIP) or any other international offering like global depository receipts (GDRs)/american depository receipts (ADRs), as per the board's decision. It had raised $500 million from a stock sale last May.

Besides, Yes Bank has also received approval from its board to hike the foreign shareholding limit up to 74% from existing 49%.

Yes Bank's larger rival HDFC Bank was the last lender to have done an ADR, when it successfully raised Rs.10,000 crore earlier this year.