By IANS,
New Delhi : Punjab and Sind Bank will hit the capital market with an initial public offering (IPO) of 50 million shares in June to raise around Rs.500 crore for business expansion, the public sector lender’s managing director G.S. Vedi said Monday.
“We are in the advanced stage of preparations for launching an IPO. We understand that the government is actively considering the proposal and with this, we hope to launch it by June-end or first week of July,” Vedi told reporters here.
With the launch of the IPO, the government’s stake in the bank will come down to 82 percent from the present 100 percent.
The funds raised will be utilised to expand the bank’s business, Vedi said.
“We will file the prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India by this month-end or the first week of the next month,” he said.
The bank targets to grow by at least 30 percent and have total business of over Rs.one lakh crore this financial year. Its total business stood at Rs.81,894 crore as on March 31, 2010.
The bank plans to take up the total number of branches to 1,000 by March 2011 from the present 920. It will open around 30 branches in villages.
It will also recruit 800 people, including 500 probationary officers, this fiscal.