NEW YORK: K V Kamath, chief executive of ICICI Bank, said on Friday that the bank would leverage its presence in New York to channel the investment activities of Indian companies in the US.
India’s biggest private sector bank, which spent three years getting all clearances from Indian and US regulators, will finally open for business on Monday in New York’s bustling mid-town Manhattan.
“At least 23% of our revenues come from global operations. We expect this trend to remain strong. India is showing a 9% growth and Indian companies are leveraging this by embarking on mergers and acquisitions abroad. We want a piece of this cross-border M&A action,” Kamath told DNA Money at the New York Stock Exchange, where the bank is also listed.
The last notable cross-border deal for ICICI was the Vijay Mallya-owned United Breweries’ acquisition of Scottish whisky distiller Whyte & Mackay for $1.2 billion. “We were both advisers and financers to that transaction,” said Sonjoy Chatterjee, executive director responsible for corporate and international banking.
According to industry officials, ICICI Bank played a role in financing, underwriting and structuring 70% of Indian company-led global M&A deals estimated at roughly $35 billion in 2007.
ICICI Bank’s initial focus in the US will be on corporate cross-border opportunities and the local banking needs of Indians coming to work there. Later, it will add India-centric NRI services for Indian-Americans.
The US foray increases the bank’s global presence to 19 countries.
