SBI, Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank sell Yes Bank shares worth over ₹15,800 crore to Sumitomo Mitsui

In one of the largest cross-border deals in India's banking sector, the State Bank of India

(SBI), Bandhan Bank and Federal Bank have sold a combined stake of over 446 crore shares in Yes Bank Limited to Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), amounting to more than ₹15,800 crore.

Bandhan Bank disclosed it sold 15.39 crore shares at ₹21.50 apiece, trimming its stake in Yes Bank from 0.70% to 0.21%. Federal Bank separately said it offloaded 16.62 crore shares, also at ₹21.50 per share, to SMBC under a previously signed agreement.

The biggest seller was SBI, which completed the divestment of a 13.18% stake—amounting to 413.44 crore shares—at ₹21.50 per share, fetching ₹8,889 crore. The sale followed approvals from the Reserve Bank of India (August 22) and the Competition Commission of India (September 2). SBI's board had cleared the deal in May 2025.

SBI Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty welcomed SMBC as a strategic partner, describing the transaction as "perhaps the best example of protecting the customer interests of a large bank by collaborative efforts of SBI and other banks under the guidance of Government of India and RBI." He recalled that the Yes Bank rescue plan of 2020 was an "innovative" model of public–private partnership.

Yes Bank, once at the centre of a high-profile rescue led by SBI and seven other private banks in 2020, has been gradually stabilising its balance sheet. Under the current agreement, SBI has sold 13.19% of its 24% holding, while the seven private banks—HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, IDFC First Bank, Federal Bank and Bandhan Bank—are jointly selling 6.81%. They had originally invested at ₹10 per share in 2020.

For SMBC, part of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), the purchases mark a decisive entry into Indian banking. The Japanese major has RBI approval to raise its stake in Yes Bank up to 24.99% and has secured the right to nominate two directors on the bank's board. Reports suggest SMBC may also infuse ₹16,000 crore into Yes Bank through a mix of debt and equity.

The combined transactions underscore a shift in Yes Bank's shareholder base—from a consortium of Indian lenders that bailed it out in 2020 to a global strategic investor seeking to deepen its footprint in India's fast-growing financial sector.