Saraswat to take over Mandvi Co-operative Bank fm Jan 1, 2007

Mumbai, Oct 12 (UNI) The country's largest cooperative bank, Saraswat Cooperative Bank today announced that it will take over a profit-making Mumbai based Mandvi Co-operative Bank with 19 fully computersied and networked branches in the city.

Briefing newspersons, its director and Rajya Sabha MP, Mr Eknath Thakur said the Bank had signed MoU in this regard with the Mandvi Co-operative Bank two months ago and informed the concerned regulators such as the Reserve Bank of India, Central Registrar of Co-operative banks and State Registrar of Co-operative banks.

''In all probability, all the required permissions will be through by January 01, 2007 and the Mandvi Co-operative Bank with its employees of over 385 people will be merged with the Saraswat,'' said Mr Thakur.

Further, he said this acquisition will increase Saraswat's business by over 11 per cent to over Rs 12,000 crore making it the larger than some of the smaller private banks such as Bharat Overseas Bank, Ratnakar Bank, Lord Krishna Bank, SBI Commercial&Industrial Bank and United Western Bank to mention a few.

Replying to a question, Mr Thakur said the Bank has opted for growth through acquisition route as the RBI refused to grant fresh licences to cooperatives. In this context, he said ''there are quite few banks available for acquisition, with the RBI trying to bring down the number of cooperatives through consolidation process.'' When asked for details, Mr Thakur said his Bank is looking at the proposals to take over Suvarna Co-operative Bank and Rupee Co-operative Bank as the next possible acquisitions in the near future.

Saraswat Co-operative Bank during the half-year ended September 30, 2006 accounts for a total business of Rs 11,684 crore with 86 branches in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Its advances roughly stood at Rs 4,900 crore and deposits at Rs 6,800 crore during this period, with a capital adequacy ratio at 12.11 per cent and Net NPA at zero per cent. It has a paid up capital of Rs 48.97 crore.

Mandvi Co-operative Bank that envisages 18 branches and a central loan processing cell in addition to its headquarters -- all of them based in Mumbai-- posted a net profit of Rs 1.70 crore as on March 31, 2006 and capital adequacy ratio of 12.30 per cent. The bank's funds and other reserves as on March 31, 2006 stood at Rs 54.55 crore. During FY'2005-06, the bank's deposits and advances stood at Rs 575 crore and Rs 307 crore respectively, while its paid-up capital stood at Rs 10.55 crore.

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