ICICI board to consider merger of Sangli Bank

Mumbai: The board of ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector bank, is meeting on December 9 to consider the proposal for amalgamation of Sangli Bank Ltd with itself.

ICICI Bank said it is keen to acquire Sangli Bank as part of efforts to enhance its rural branch network. ICICI Bank at present has 640 branches, while Sangli Bank has about 186 branches in seven states. ICICI's asset size in the first half of this fiscal stood at Rs2,82,300 crore.

This is the second bid by ICICI Bank this year after its failed attempt to acquire Satara-based United Western Bank, which was acquired by IDBI Bank a few months ago.

ICICI Bank, which received the Reserve Bank's permission to open new branches, expects to bolster its branch network, especially in rural areas through this amalgamation.

The amalgamation will be in line with the bank management's philosophy of tapping the huge Indian rural market, which it feels will be the growth driver for the Indian banking industry.

The merger would also help the private sector banking major to meet its priority sector lending commitments, banking industry analysts say