Cerberus, JC Flowers make play for stake in Yes Bank's bad loans unit – CNBC

Cerberus Capital Management LP and J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC made offers to acquire a stake in Yes Bank Ltd.'s planned asset reconstruction company, CNBC reported Feb. 6, citing two people aware of the development.

The two private equity firms submitted binding bids before the Feb. 5 deadline, while other previously reported shortlisted players such as Apollo Global Management Inc. opted not to make a play for the interest, according to the unnamed sources.

One of the sources said out of the 15 expressions of interest received for the stake, many players like Edelweiss and SSG are still expected to take part in the auction through the Swiss challenge method despite not submitting binding bids.

According to people in the know, Yes Bank will own 20% of the planned asset reconstruction unit, with the remainder to be held by the overseas partner. The proposed unit will likely hold more than 500 billion rupees of loans from the lender.

CNBC noted it reached out to the selling Indian lender for comment but has yet to receive a response. The news network is also awaiting responses from Cerberus Capital and J.C. Flowers.

As of Feb. 4, US$1 was equivalent to 74.64 Indian rupees.