Sunday, August 30, 2009

Federal Bank-CSB merger likely in 3 months

Mumbai, Aug 30: Long-awaited merger proposal of Kerala-based Catholic Syrian Bank (CSB) and Federal Bank is likely in the next two to three months with both lenders putting it on fast track.

30 August 2009

Federal Bank, which is one of the largest private sector banks in Kerala with a total business of around Rs 56,000 crore, has appointed three consultants to speed up the process, a source close to the development told PTI.

CSB is understood to have constituted a three-member committee headed by C K Gopinathan to look into the proposal and both banks are likely to start the due-diligence for the merger as early as next week, the source said. Federal Bank has 634 branches while CSB has 300.

CSB has around 120 branches outside Kerala. Its total business currently stands over Rs 11,000 crore and has around 3,000 employees. The combined entity would have a total business of around Rs 67,000 crore and nearly 1,000 branches. This will help the resultant entity to emerge as a major player in the country's banking sector. "A possible merger can consolidate our position in Kerala," Federal Bank, ED, P R Kalyanaraman said.

No comments:

Post a Comment