BackWill never sell my shares in Yes Bank, says CEO and MD Rana Kapoor
Rana Kapoor's no-sale pledge followed reports that Madhu Kapur had sold 0.04% of her stake in the open market
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Mumbai: His term cut short by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Yes Bank managing director and CEO Rana Kapoor posted a series of unconventional messages on social networking site Twitter on Friday, calling his shares in the bank “diamonds" and vowing not to sell them to cut his or his family’s promoter-holding in the bank.
“Diamonds are Forever: My Promoter shares of @YESBANK are invaluable to me… Even after I demit office as MD & CEO of YES BANK, I will never ever sell my @YESBANK shares," said Kapoor about his shares, which rose dramatically last year, making him a billionaire.
“I will eventually bequeath my Yes Bank promoter shares to my three daughters and subsequently to their children, with a request in my Will stating not to sell a single share, as diamonds are forever!!," he added.
At the end of June 2018, the bank’s two estranged promoters Rana Kapoor and Madhu Kapur held a stake of 4.34% and 7.62% in Yes Bank. Kapoor’s associate firms Yes Capital (India) Pvt. Ltd and Morgan Credits Pvt. Ltd hold 3.28% and 3.05% respectively, while Kapur’s associate firm Mags Finvest Pvt. Ltd. held 1.7% in the bank.
RBI rejected a request by the Yes Bank board for a three-year extension in his tenure, giving the bank until 31 January, 2019 to find a successor amid a crackdown on heavily indebted private sector lenders. Kapoor’s no-sales pledge followed reports in the Economic Times that Madhu Kapur had sold 0.04% of her stake in the open market on 21 September.
Things have turned pear shaped for Kapoor since Yes Bank stocks rose at least 16% within a fortnight in mid-January 2017, lifting his net worth to $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The bank’s stock has been on a free-fall for over a month now and investors have lost almost ₹ 50,000 crore in just five weeks as the stock tumbled over uncertainty around the bank’s performance and the appointment of a successor to Kapoor.
On Friday, the bank’s stock dropped nearly 10% to ₹ 183.45 apiece. The bank has lost almost 50% of its market value in just over a month’s time, crashing to ₹ 42,364 crore from ₹ 91,000 crore on 20 August.
Kapoor, however, holds on.
On 25 September, analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a note to their clients: “We await more clarity around the strategy after the new CEO appointment and capital-raising. As of now, we see divergent potential outcomes and hence prefer to stay on the sidelines."
Kapoor tweeted: “In this leadership transition at Yes Bank, I continue to remain fully committed to the interests of the bank and all its stakeholders. I will be fully guided by the board of directors of Yes Bank and the RBI."
Yes Bank is heading for a lengthy search for a new boss after the RBI, on 17 September, restricted Kapoor’s tenure. Yes Bank’s complex articles of association (AoA), which the Bombay high court ruled in 2015 must be followed by two of its warring promoters, will make the board’s task harder.
The articles of association was agreed upon by the bank’s promoters in 2005 and amended in September 2017.
In June, the bank’s board sought a three-year extension for Kapoor till 31 August 2021, but the regulator agreed to extend his tenure only till 31 January 2019.
The board, on 25 September, said it will request RBI to extend Kapoor’s tenure till September 2019, but analysts say the RBI is unlikely to agree.
The bank’s board at its meeting on 25 September, decided to set up a search committee to identify a successor to Kapoor. The committee will include three existing nomination and remuneration committee board members, along with two external experts.
“The board has not been able to give a clear picture on the succession and further course for the bank. The timelines and uncertainty on approvals from RBI for both MD & CEO (should be difficult) and EDs will keep near-term stock performance muted," said analysts at research firm Prabhudas Lilladher in a 26 September note.
The board has decided to promote two of Yes Bank’s senior officials and Kapoor’s trusted lieutenants Rajat Monga and Pralay Mondal as executive directors, subject to RBI approval.
“We believe the dissent with other promoter group may prevent this," analysts from Deutsche Bank said in a 26 September note to its investors.
“As per its Articles of association, both promoters have to jointly appoint any new directors on the board. In the past as well, the appointments of new EDs could not materialize due to differences in opinion between the promoter groups," said the note by Deutsche Bank
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