Argus, AZB, SAM lead on merger of GRUH Finance into Bandhan Bank

The Board of Directors of Bandhan Bank Limited and HDFC-controlled GRUH Finance Limited have approved the merger of GRUH into Bandhan Bank. This is possibly the largest merger in the financial services space with a current combined market cap of around Rs. 84,000 Crores (USD 12bn). The merger would be subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals..Argus Partners acted for GRUH Finance and the team was led by Managing Partner Krishnava Dutt along with Partners Adity Chaudhury and Arka Majumdar along with Associates Ashish Patel, Kshitija Naik, Deeya Ray, Riya Dutta, Shradha Rakhecha, Prithwish Roy Chowdhury, Amishi Magdani, Ayushi Jain with help from Vishesh Arora, (Senior Associate) and Abhay Jain, (Associate)..AZB & Partners acted for HDFC and team was led by Managing Partner Zia Mody along with Partners Ashwath Rau and Anu Tiwari along with Vipul Jain, Himanshoo Tembe, Aditya Alok, Tanya Pahwa and Saras Muzumdar..Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas acted for Bandhan Bank and the team was led by Partner Raghubir Menon along with Partner Anirban Bhattacharya, Senior Associate Deepa Rekha and Associates Tanmayee Chaulkar and tushnaz Patel..Partner Yogesh Chande along with Kanwardeep Kapany and Gaurav Malhotra advised on regulatory aspects of the deal. Partner Veena Sivaramakrishnan advised on banking aspects..Singhi & Co is also the Solicitors & Advocates for Gruh and shall be filing the application for them before the NCLT Ahmedabad after Gruh obtaining necessary approvals..The share exchange ratio accepted by the boards of Bandhan Bank and GRUH is 568 equity shares of face value of Rs.10 each of Bandhan Bank to be issued for every 1,000 equity shares of face value of Rs.2 each of GRUH..The merger would help Bandhan Bank achieve product and geographic diversification while improving penetration in its core customer segment. GRUH will get access to a wider distribution network, a larger customer base and low-cost deposit base of Bandhan Bank, according to the press release..Story to be updated.