Yes Bank Shares Jump 19% After CEO Ravneet Gill Says Lender Near Deal To Sell Stake

Yes Bank shares rose over 19 per cent on Wednesday, a day after its chief executive officer and managing director said the private sector lender was close to securing a deal to sell a minority stake to a global technology company. Yes Bank shares rose as much as 14.97 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to an intraday high of Rs 72.55 apiece. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Yes Bank shares opened higher at Rs 66 apiece and climbed to as much as Rs 75.45 apiece, marking an intraday increase of 19.57 per cent. 

Without naming the investor, Ravneet Gill said the stake sale was likely to be less than 10 per cent initially but could rise, describing the buyer as one of the world's top three technology companies that had not previously invested in a bank. 

The board has given the private sector bank the go-ahead to raise more growth capital. The bank has approval to raise $1.3 billion but aims to bring in an additional $1 billion to $1.2 billion via a preferential allotment, according to news agency Reuters. 

In addition to the tech investor, smaller investors could also pump in about $200 million to $250 million, Mr Gill said.

Yes Bank later said in a stock exchange notice on Tuesday that news about stake sales was "speculative", adding that the it looks to raise funds as a normal part of its business.

At 11:48 am, Yes Bank shares traded 12.84 per cent higher at Rs 71.20 apiece on the BSE, outperforming the benchmark Sensex index which was up 0.45 cent.

In August, the bank raised Rs 1,930 crore via qualified institutional placement (QIP), a capital-raising tool commonly used in the country, to improve its capital adequacy ratio.