India-based private sector bank RBL Bank has announced that Emirates NBD will launch an open offer to buy its equity shares from public investors on 12 December 2025.
This open offer will cover up to 415,586,443 equity shares, representing a 26% stake in the Indian bank, and the offer price is set at Rs 280 ($3.16) per share.
This move follows Emirates NBD’s announcement last month about its plans to purchase a 60% stake in RBL Bank for $3bn.
Emirates NBD plans to carry out the acquisition through its Indian subsidiary, which will integrate with RBL Bank following the completion of the purchase.
In addition to the public offer, Emirates NBD intends to acquire shares from existing institutional investors through a preferential offer.
The size of the preferential allotment will depend on the response to the open offer.
In a filing, RBL Bank said: “The Open Offer size is subject to a proportionate reduction in accordance with the first proviso to Regulation 7(4) of the SEBI (SAST) Regulations, such that the resulting shareholding of the Acquirer on completion of the Open Offer and the Underlying Transaction does not exceed 75% of the expanded voting share capital.”
Under current Indian regulations, foreign investment in private sector banks is permitted up to 74%.
However, a single foreign institution can only hold up to 15% unless an exemption is granted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Separately, Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra has divested its entire 3.5% stake in RBL Bank for Rs6.78bn ($77.1m).
The automobile company sold its shares at Rs317 ($3.5) per share, which is around 2% lower than the current share price.
This transaction was executed today, with Kotak Securities as the broker.
In 2023, Mahindra acquired a 3.5% stake in the Indian private bank for Rs4.17bn, which indicates a 64% return on investment after closing this transaction.
