India’s biggest private sector bank ICICI Bank has ruled out the foreign buys. However it said it is looking to purchase local banks in order to maximize its presence and business in the country.
ICICI Bank managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar said that the bank is not considering overseas mergers or takeover or any related steps, as the bank has a strong presence in 18 countries, with a very big network in each of them. This was in response to a query if she was considering buying properties overseas that were available at bargains.
But when it comes to domestic buys, she said that the bank is ready for inorganic growth and would search for the suitable opportunity. She said that as far as India is concerned, she is considering buy outs, and mergers but also added that there is no excellent opportunity available right now that she was seeing.
In the past, ICICI Bank had bought 2 domestic banks viz. Sangli Bank and the Bank of Madura. This was done to boost its presence in the Indian markets.
As of date, the bank has a network of 1,631 branches and around 4,883 ATMs spread all over the country.