Carlyle Affiliate Buys 26% In SBI Cards
GE Capital has exited SBI Cards through the stake sale.
State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday informed stock exchanges that an affiliate of Carlyle Asia Partners has signed an agreement to buy a minority stake in SBI Cards – the bank’s credit card unit.
CA Rover Holdings, an affiliate of Carlyle Asia Partners IV, will be the new joint venture partner in the bank’s credit card unit and hold 26 percent, the bank said in a notice to stock exchanges. It did not disclose the price at which the deal had been struck. In March, the Economic Times reported that Carlyle was in talks to buy the 26 percent stake for Rs 2,000 crore.
SBI holds the remaining 74 percent in both SBI Cards and GE Capital Business Process Management Services, the back-end service provider for the card unit. With the conclusion of this deal, GE Capital will exit the credit card venture in line with its global strategy.
The transaction is expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory approvals, said Carlyle in a separate press release.
“Carlyle's deep experience and operating expertise in the financial services sector, and a track record of successful public-private partnerships, will enable us to be a supportive and value adding partner to SBI Card,” said Sunil Kaul, managing director of The Carlyle Group in the press release.
According to an analyst presentation made by SBI at the time of its annual results, SBI Cards ranked second in terms of the number of cards issued. The business reported a profit before tax of Rs 598 crore for fiscal 2017, a growth of 37 percent compared to the previous year.