Yes Bank appoints Anshu Jain-headed Cantor Fitzgerald, 2 domestic entities for fundraising plans

Mumbai, Feb 5 () Private sector lender Yes Bank has appointed Anshu Jain-headed global investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and two domestic entities for its fundraising plans, sources said on Wednesday.

Other merchant bankers appointed by the capital-starved lender include IDFC Securities and Ambit Capital, they said.

Jain is the ex-colleague of Yes Bank's current Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ravneet Gill, who has made the capital-raising as his top priority after taking over last March. Jain was the co-chief executive of German lender Deutsche Bank globally, while Gill was heading the India operations.

A bank spokesperson did not respond immediately to an e-mail on the same.

Recognition of sour bets taken under his predecessor Rana Kapoor has depleted Yes Bank's capital buffers, and also forced it to reduce its loan book.

It has, however, been struggling to raise the required capital for the past three months. It initially announced a plan to raise USD 2 billion, and had last month announced a new round of raising Rs 10,000 crore in fresh capital.

On January 10, the bank's board had decided that Canadian investor Erwin Singh Braich's USD 1.2-billion offer will not be pursued further, and also hinted that a USD 500-million offer from Citax Holdings and Citax Investment Group, which was being favourably considered, is facing headwinds.

The bank, which was waiting for regulatory nods as Citax's offer entailed over 10 per cent ownership, has not yet been able to get a clearance on the "conditions precedent". Without specifying timelines, it said the Citax offer will be taken up "during the next round".

The scrip gained 7.58 per cent to close at Rs 37.60 a piece on the BSE. AA HRS