- Bandhan Bank may be exploring a change of control by initiating a sale process
- Promoters own 39.74% stake; no official confirmation or response received yet
- Potential buyers include strategic banks and private equity investors
Two independent sources with direct knowledge share with NDTV Profit that Bandhan Bank could be exploring a change of control by putting the bank on the block. Sources suggest that the promoters of Bandhan Bank could be in the process of hiring an investment bank to kickstart the sale process.
Bandhan Bank's spokesperson told NDTV Profit, “The Bank is not aware of any such development, and we have not received any communication in this regard.”
Promoter group entities own 39.74% stake in the bank. An email query sent to the promoter group did not get any response.
Sources suggest that both strategic banks and private equity investors could be potential suitors for the bank sale process. For large banks, a merger may be attractive given that Bandhan Bank has a large deposit base in East India and the largest profitable portfolio in the priority sector lending (PSL) space. For private equity investors, a universal bank is often a sought-after investment with limited opportunities available.
Bandhan Bank's Q3FY26 net profit surged around 84% QoQ from Rs 111.87 crore reported in the previous quarter (Q2 FY26). Asset quality improved, with the gross NPA ratio falling to 3.33% in Q3 FY26, from 4.68% in Q3 FY25 and 5.02% in Q2 FY26.
Deposits grew 11% YoY to Rs 1.57 lakh crore, while gross advances rose 10% YoY to Rs 1.45 lakh crore. Net interest margin (NIM) for the quarter stood at 5.9%. Many brokerages upgraded the stock on the back of sequential improvement in performance as the microfinance sector heads out of a difficult cycle.
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