RBI's move on Laxmi Vilas Bank has no impact on merger proposal: Indiabulls

Reserve Bank of India's restriction on Lakshmi Vilas Bank will not have any impact on its merger process with the lender: Indiabulls Housing Finance

Mumbai: Indiabulls Housing Finance on Monday said the Reserve Bank of India's restriction on Lakshmi Vilas Bank will not have any impact on its merger process with the lender.

On September 28, the RBI had initiated prompt corrective action on Lakshmi Bank.

In April this year, Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBHF) had announced the proposed merger in April and applied for the RBI nod in May.

"The fact is that the LVB has been put under PCA (Prompt Corrective Action). But, in my view, it is an opportunity for us and it is also going to give some time for RBI to continue with the due diligence, consolidate all the feedbacks from various regulatory agencies and take a final view on whether to give go-ahead or to do something else with LVB," vice-chairman, managing director Gagan Banga told investors in a concall.

This is not the end of the road as far as the bank proposal is concerned. I am very convinced about this, Banga said.

Banga expects to hear back from the RBI by the end of October, and if it is positive, the process will get over by end of this fiscal, he said.

Banga said the company has cash of around USD 3 billion as of June 30, 2019.

He said the company has repayment pipeline of around Rs 10,000 crore for the next six month for which it has cash in the excess of Rs 20,000 crore.