Central Bank Likely To Mobilize Rs 816 cr Through IPO

Mumbai: Central Bank of India is looking to mobilize additional capital through an initial public offering. The bank will issue 8 crore shares of Rs 10 each at a price to be decided by 100 per cent book building process in the band of Rs 85-Rs 102. It fund raising could go up to Rs 816 crore. The issue opens on July 24 and closes on July 27.

After the issue, the shareholding of the Government will come down to 80.20 per cent. Currently, the bank is wholly owned by the Government. Another public sector bank, Indian Bank raised capital through an initial public offering in February. The bank's red herring document claimed that its business per employee has grown to Rs 3.76 crore as of March 2007 from Rs 2.84 crore in the previous year. It similarly claims improvement on other parameters such as net profit per employee and return on assets. Central Bank of India is the second public sector bank to hit the capital markets this year. Of the 19 nationalised banks, now, United Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank are the only two banks which have not tapped the equity markets.