Federal Bank, RBL Bank shares: ICICI Pru AMC gets nod to acquire up to 10% stakes

Shares of Federal Bank Ltd and RBL Bank Ltd will in focus on Friday morning after the Reserve Bank of India gave nod to ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Ltd for acquiring aggregate holding of up to 9.95 per cent of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of the two lenders.

In a filing to BSE, Federal Bank said: "The bank has received an intimation from the Reserve Bank of India on December 28, 2023, that it has accorded its approval to ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Ltd. (ICICI AMC) for acquiring aggregate holding of up to 9.95% of the paid-up Share Capital or Voting Rights of the Bank subject to the conditions specified therein."

The Jhunjhunwala-backed bank noted that the approval granted by the RBI is subject to the compliance with the relevant provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, RBI’s Master Direction and Guidelines on Acquisition and Holding of Shares
or Voting Rights in Banking Companies dated January 16, 2023 (as amended from time to time), provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, regulations issued by Securities and Exchange Board of India, and any other guidelines, regulations and statutes as applicable.

In the case of RBL Bank, the RBI gave approval to ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd, along with ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Ltd. RBL Bank informed stock exchanges about the RBI grant in a filing post market hours of Thursday.

As per the RBI Letter, "I-Pru AMC and I-Pru Life have been accorded the approval to acquire the aforesaid major shareholding in the bank within a period of one year i.e. by December 26, 2024 and to ensure that the aggregate holding in the Bank does not exceed 9.95% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of the bank at all times. Further in the event, if the aggregate holding falls below 5%, prior approval of RBI will be required to increase it to 5% or more of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of the Bank," RBL Bank said.

In this context, RBL Bank noted that ICICI group including ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd and ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Ltd held 2.08 per cent of the equity share capital of the bank as of December 22, 2023.