By Bl Mumbai Bureau
Copyright thehindubusinessline
The State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday said it has received ₹8,889 crore from the divestment of about 413.44 crore equity shares of Yes Bank Ltd (YBL), being equivalent to 13.19 per cent (approximately) of the latter’s shares to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), at ₹21.50 per equity share.
This inflow will buoy the Bank’s other income in the second quarter (Q2FY26), according to analysts. Post the divestment, SBI will continue to remain a shareholder in YBL with a shareholding of 10.8 per cent(approx.) of the latter’s shares (residual shareholding).
SBI became the largest shareholder of YBL in March 2020 under the Yes Bank Ltd Reconstruction Scheme, 2020, as notified by the Central Government. Subsequently, it had also acquired additional shares as part of a follow-on public offer by YBL in July 2020.
SMBC, which is a Japanese multinational financial services company belonging to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), last month, received the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to acquire up to 24.99 per cent of the paid-up share capital/ voting rights of YBL.
SMFG is the second largest banking group in Japan and 14th largest globally, with with total assets of $2 trillion.
In May 2025, YBL informed the exchanges regarding the proposed acquisition by SMBC of 20 per cent shareholding in the Bank.
This acquisition will be through a secondary stake purchase of 13.19 per cent stake from the State Bank of India and an aggregate of 6.81 per cent stake from 7 other shareholders of the Bank — Axis Bank, Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
SBI, in a statement, said: “The partial stake sale by SBI and other shareholder Banks in YBL to SMBC represents the largest cross-border investment in the Indian banking sector. The transaction has received the necessary regulatory and statutory approvals including from the Reserve Bank of India and the Competition Commission of India.”
The Bank said, pursuant to SMBC obtaining the requisite approvals from RBI on 22nd August, 2025 and CCI (Competition Commission of India) on September 2, 2025, and satisfaction of customary conditions precedent as laid out in the share purchase agreement dated May 9, 2025, the transfer of shares has been completed today.
Challa Sreenivasulu Setty, Chairman, SBI, said, “Yes Bank restructuring plan by RBI in 2020 was an innovative, first of its kind public sector—private sector partnership that was fully supported and facilitated by Government of India… This is perhaps the best example of protecting the customer interests of a large bank by collaborative efforts of SBI and other banks under the guidance of Government of India and RBI.”
Setty observed that SMBC’s global expertise will be a great complement to Yes Bank’s ongoing progress and future ambitions.
Published on September 17, 2025
