Talwar: Good show

Mumbai, March 23: Centurion Bank has raised $70 million (over Rs 300 crore) through global depository receipts (GDR). The bank will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

The bank has issued 14,583,300 GDRs. Each GDR, priced at $4.80, represented 15 common shares of the bank of a face value of Re 1 per share, Centurion Bank informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The proceeds of the offering will be used to enhance the bank?s capital adequacy ratio as well as increase its lending capacity.

According to Centurion Bank, its GDR received a strong demand from investors in Asia and Europe.

Citigroup has been the sole bookrunner and lead manager to the issue. The bank has given a green-shoe option to the bookrunner for up to $10 million.

Chairman Rana Talwar said, ?We are extremely pleased with the response to our maiden international offering.?

?After this issue, Centurion Bank will take its place among the best capitalised banks in India with the ability to capture growth opportunities in retail banking,? he added.

Earlier this year, Centurion Bank had announced its plans to raise up to Rs 600 crore through additional equity.

For this, the bank evaluated various options, including a domestic public issue, private placement or an international offering.

As the GDR news trickled in, the Centurion Bank counter became active on the BSE today.

The scrip rose to an intra-day high of Rs 16.10, before closing at Rs 15.35, a gain of 1.32 per cent over its previous close. Close to 41 lakh shares were transacted at the exchange.

Centurion Bank, which had been passing through a difficult phase, was recently recapitalised by a group of international investors.

Following this, the management of the bank underwent a change with Talwar assuming charge as chairman and Shailendra Bhandari as managing director.

Vivek Vig was recently appointed as the head of retail banking. The major shareholders of the bank include Bank Muscat, Keppel Corporation, Asian Development Bank and Sabre Capital Worldwide.

The bank is planning to set up 75 fully networked branches in the country and it has received 14 licences from the Reserve Bank.

Centurion Bank opened a new branch at Pondicherry today. It is expanding its presence in the country and particularly in the south, Vig added.