Day: August 28, 2014

(Disclosure:I am market making in the shares of RBL Bank)

India’s RBL Bank has hired four banks to manage a planned $250 million share sale in the first initial public offering in nine years by a private sector lender in the South Asian country, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Co., Standard Chartered Plc, Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley (MS) will work on the IPO due next year, the people said, asking not to be identified before a public announcement. The Kolhapur, Maharashtra-based lender counts London-based CDC Group Plc, International Finance Corp. and Norwest Venture Partners, which is financed almost entirely by Wells Fargo & Co., among its investors.

Proceeds from the sale may help the bank open more branches and allow Chief Executive Officer Vishwavir Ahuja to increase loans at a faster pace. The 71-year-old lender with assets of more than 180 billion rupees ($3 billion) and 175 branches as of March 31 is seeking to expand in the country where only 35 percent of the adult population has a bank account.-from Bloomberg