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Dubai-based Emirates NBD Bank PJSC has agreed to acquire up to a 60% stake in India’s private lender RBL Bank Ltd. for as much as $3.05 billion, according to a disclosure filed with the Dubai Financial Market.
Once completed, the transaction will make Emirates NBD the majority shareholder of RBL Bank, representing about 60% ownership, subject to approvals from shareholders and the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s banking regulator.
The proposed acquisition represents the largest foreign direct investment in India’s financial services sector to date.
It also marks the biggest equity fundraise in the Indian banking industry and the largest capital increase through a preferential share issuance by a listed company.
In addition, it will be the first time a foreign bank acquires a majority stake in a profitable Indian bank.
The bank said its long-term commitment to India’s financial market reflects deepening Gulf–South Asia ties and confidence in India’s fast-growing sector, reinforcing its role within the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor—a transcontinental initiative launched in September 2023 to link India with Europe via the Middle East through ports, railways, roads and digital networks.
Under the terms of the agreement, RBL Bank will issue up to 959 million new shares at 280 rupees ($3.18) per share, reflecting a 6.5% discount to its previous closing price.
The transaction values RBL Bank at approximately $2.09 billion before the capital injection and follows a period of sharp share price gains, with the stock rising nearly 90% this year compared to a 13% increase in the broader banking index.
Emirates NBD, based in Dubai and majority-owned by the Government of Dubai, is the second-largest bank in the United Arab Emirates in terms of total assets, with AED 1.086 trillion ($295.7 billion).
The bank offers retail banking, corporate banking, private banking, investment banking, Islamic banking and asset management products, operating in multiple countries beyond the UAE, including Egypt, India, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
ENBD entered the Turkish market in 2019 through the $2.8 billion acquisition of DenizBank from Russia’s Sberbank.
Based in Istanbul, DenizBank is among Türkiye’s largest private lenders, offering corporate, retail, and agricultural banking services across a broad network of branches.
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