‘ICICI Bank once tried to…’: Ex-HDFC Bank chief Deepak Parekh’s BIG revelation, says Chanda Kochhar had…

Former HDFC Bank Chairman Deepak Parekh said that ICICI Bank had once made a proposal to acquire HDFC.

Veteran banker and former HDFC Bank boss Deepak Parekh has a made stunning revelation, stating that ICICI Bank had once made a proposal to acquire HDFC, which was rejected. Parekh made the revelation in a conversation Chanda Kochhar, the former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank.

“I remember you once talked to me, and you said that ICICI started HDFC. Why don’t you come back? This was your offer,” Parekh said, adding that he had rejected the offer saying “Doing this would not be good for my name and the name of the company and other things”.

Why HDFC Ltd merged with HDFC Bank

Deepak Parekh also delved into the merger of HDFC Ltd with HDFC Bank, a process that was completed in July 2023. Parekh cited pressure from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the primary reason behind the merger of HDFC Ltd with HDFC Bank. “RBI said there was pressure on us, which motivated us to some extent. It helped us, but we did not get any concession, no relief, no extra time. Nothing. But it helped in moving the process forward and getting approval,” he said,

Parekh asserted that the merger proved to be a good move for the institution in the long run, as HDFC Bank became India’s largest private bank soon after the merger was completed.

HDFC Bank share price

Interestingly, ICICI Ltd, the former parent company of ICICI Bank, gave a lot of help to HDFC Bank. The HDFC merger came into effect on July 1, 2023, sending HDFC Ltd  into the history book after 44 years of existence. Both ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are regarded to have had the largest impact in transforming the private banking sector in India.

Notably, HDFC Bank shares given 18 percent returns to investors over the last one year, even as the company’s stock returns have been sluggish since the sluggish. In contrast, ICICI Bank shares have surged by 23 percent during the same period.