State-run Allahabad Bank plans to buy stake in a small bank in Africa to establish presence in the growing market, a top executive said on Monday.
The bank would like to invest $15-20 million at the upper limit to buy about 74 per cent stake in a bank in Africa, chairman A.C.Mahajan said over telephone.
“We will shortly appoint merchant bankers to find the possible target,” he told Reuters.
“African economy is growing and we want to tap the potential there,” he said.
Besides its operations in India, the bank has offices in Hongkong and Shangem (China).
It has no plans to raise further capital in the year to March 2008, Mahajan said.
The Kolkata-based bank, with a capital adequacy ratio of 13 per cent, recently raised Rs 500 crore via debts, he said.
It expects to maintain net interest margin at 3 per cent in the year to March 2008 on current level of interest rates, he said.
The bank expects interest rates to remain stable in the year to March 2008, he said.
Source: Sify