Emirates NBD, a bank in the Middle East, will purchase a 60 percent stake in RBL Bank, an Indian private bank with a valuation of $3 billion, in the biggest cross-border acquisition in the Indian financial sector.
In a statement to exchanges, RBL Bank said that the bank will invest INR268.5 billion Indian rupees plus ($3.05 billion) dollars in the bank through a preferential issue of shares.
The acquisition is one of several cross-border acquisitions in India this year, and follows a move by Japan-based Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to acquire up to 25 percent of Yes Bank several months earlier.
UAE banks have been reviewing cross-border expansions both locally and internationally. ENBD and the FAB of Abu Dhabi have been increasing their activities in other markets such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
In a joint statement after the deal was announced by the banks, they stated, “This investment reflects ENBD’s confidence in India’s fast-growing financial sector, reinforcing India’s strategic importance within the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.”
Lender, which is fully owned by retail shareholders and investment funds, stated that the transaction will depend on regulatory approvals.
India permits foreign investment in the private banks up to 74 percent but restricts any individual foreign institution’s shareholding up to 15 percent without an exemption by the regulator, the Reserve Bank of India.
According to a report by Reuters, the RBI has also indicated support for the ENBD deal informally.
Emirates NBD will also make an open offer to further shares by retail shareholders as part of the deal in accordance with the regulations of takeovers in India. As per the investor presentation of RBL Bank, they will be priced at INR280 per share.
According to these regulations, an acquisition, which involves purchasing over 25 percent shares in a firm, will mean the acquirer has to make an offer to purchase an additional 26 percent of shares from retail shareholders.
The shareholding of Emirates NBD will not exceed the total 74 per cent foreign investment limit, the exchange announcements of both banks said.
The Dubai-based lender will be referred to as the “promoter” of RBL Bank, which is a regulatory term in India that is applied to large shareholders that have management control. It will also be allowed to nominate directors to the RBL Bank board under regulatory approvals.
Head of financial sector research at Mumbai-based brokerage Emkay Global Capital Financial Services, Anand Dama, stated that “will open up flood gates for more such investments into small- and mid-sized banks in the country.”
The former CEO of RBL Bank, Vishwavir Ahuja, resigned after the Indian central bank put an extra director on its board, a move normally undertaken to subject a bank to greater scrutiny.
The management has since changed in the bank, and earnings have normalized.
Its stocks have been gaining 90 percent already in 2025 compared to the 8 percent growth of its counterpart Nifty 50 index in India.
By March 2025, RBL Bank was the 13th-largest of 21 private banks in the country with assets of INR1.46 trillion ($16.61 billion).
The lender holds a customer base of 15.17 million clients, and its network comprises 562 branches spread across 28 states and union territories within India.
In a press release, the bank reported that “The infusion will significantly strengthen RBL Bank’s balance sheet, enhance its Tier-1 capital ratio, and provide long-term growth capital.”
Dama said that investors will observe whether an integrated Emirates NBD-RBL Bank, having such a size of capital in its hands, would consider additional acquisitions within the banking sector.
Emirates NBD, with most of its shares owned by the Dubai government, had a value of assets amounting to $297 billion at the end of June.
It has, in recent years, benefited along with other UAE banks from the increasing credit demand and government-supported investment in the non-oil sectors.
It operates in such nations as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, where it purchased DenizBank in the year 2019.
