State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest bank, said it has bought a 91 pct stake in Global Trade Finance Ltd (GTF), trade finance solutions provider, without mentioning the size of the deal.
The bank — 59.7 pct-owned by the Indian government — said it has executed a share-purchase agreement with Exim Bank, FIM Bank Malta and International Finance Corp (IFC), the World Bank's private sector lending arm, to acquire their holdings in GTF.
On Jan 24, the company said it intended to buy the stake for about 5.2 bln rupees.
EXIM holds 40 pct of GTF while the Washington-based IFC holds 12.5 pct, FIM Bank has a 38.5 pct stake and India's state-run Bank of Maharashtra owns the remaining 9 pct.
GTF reported a net profit of 288.7 mln rupees in 2007, a rise of 171 pct year-on-year.
Source: Forbes