The State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday announced that it has completed the sale of a 13.18% stake in Yes Bank Limited to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) for about Rs 8,889 crore.
The deal involved the transfer of 413.44 crore equity shares at Rs 21.50 apiece. The transaction was executed after SMBC received approvals from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on August 22, 2025, and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on September 2, 2025.
This divestment, cleared earlier by SBI’s Executive Committee of the Central Board in May 2025, also met all customary conditions precedent. Following completion, SBI shares traded 1.33% higher at Rs 842.90 on the BSE, while Yes Bank slipped 0.24% to Rs 20.95.
The stake sale is part of a larger Rs 13,483-crore ($1.6 billion) agreement that gave SMBC—Japan’s largest bank—a 20% holding in Yes Bank, marking its formal entry into India’s banking sector. SMBC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), also received RBI approval to appoint two nominee directors to Yes Bank’s board.
Alongside SBI, seven private banks—HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, IDFC First Bank, Federal Bank, and Bandhan Bank—are jointly selling a 20% stake at Rs 21.50 per share. Of this, SBI offloaded 13.18% of its 24% holding for Rs 8,889 crore, while the remaining lenders are selling a combined 6.81% stake for Rs 4,594 crore.
SMBC has RBI’s nod to raise its stake further to 24.99% and may acquire an additional 4.99% from private equity players Advent and Carlyle or through a preferential issue by Yes Bank. It was reported that SMBC is also in discussions to infuse Rs 16,000 crore into Yes Bank, including Rs 7,500 crore in equity and Rs 8,500 crore in debt, for which shareholder approval has already been secured.
