The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman Ajay Tyagi on Wednesday said the regulator has not received any proposal from Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) regarding the open offer for IDBI Bank. “Let there be some proposal or some reference, we have no such reference,” Tyagi said while talking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference on Corporate Bond Market on Wednesday. Tyagi’s remarks came amidst news reports that LIC will make an open offer to minority shareholders of IDBI Bank in which it proposes to acquire up to 51% stake. The shares of IDBI Bank rose as much as 9.96% intraday to an over two-week high of Rs 58.5 on Wednesday.
The stock ended the session at Rs 57, 7.14% above its previous close. In the past four sessions, the stock has gained 18.4%. According to news reports, LIC will approach Sebi after getting approval from its board for acquiring the stake in IDBI Bank. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) on June 29 had approved a proposal by LIC to raise its stake in IDBI Bank up to 51% from the current 10.82%.
The deal is expected to save the government from having to infuse more funds into IDBI Bank, which had received as much as `10,610 crore last fiscal, the most by any public-sector bank (PSB). When asked about the merger norms for exchanges. “ We have no such proposal yet,” Tyagi said. “More players are required but if economics dictates there should be consolidation then so be it, but we don’t have any definitive proposal” Tyagi added. News reports said National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) have held talks to merge their operations. Last December Sebi had announced the integration of stocks and commodities trading on a single exchange from October 2018.
