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Deepak Parekh, chairman, HDFC Ltd is no new name to the financial world. While taking over the reigns he said, “Taking over from HT Parekh is a formidable task; his vision brought about not only an institution but an entire concept, which has proved to be of lasting importance.”

Brand HDFC boasts of a mutual fund, life and non-life insurances businesses, and a bank. HDFC Bank was the first to receive an ‘in principle’ approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a bank in the private sector, when the doors of liberalisation were opened in the banking sector in 1994. HDFC Bank commenced operations as a Scheduled Commercial Bank in January 1995 with an authorised capital of Rs 450 crore and a paid-up capital of Rs 311.9 crore. HDFC Group holds 22.1% of the bank’s equity, the ADS Depository holds about 19.4% of the equity, roughly 31.3% of the equity is held by foreign institutional investors, and the bank has around 1,90,000 shareholders.

“We were amongst the first to enter into a merger in the private sector with Times Bank in 1999. HDFC Bank was looking for an appropriate merger opportunity that would add scale, geography, and experienced staff to its franchise. This opportunity arose and we thought it is an attractive route to supplement HDFC Bank’s organic growth. We believe that Centurion Bank of Punjab would be the right fit in terms of culture, strategic intent, and approach to business,” says Parekh.

For the managing director, Aditya Puri, its was choosing the best among the other banks he had in mind. “We examined a lot of other banks before identifying Centurion Bank of Punjab. We are now in the process of gaining a larger market share by way of different businesses, including personal loans, credit cards, and cash management, and will spread our wings overseas to make our mark there. We are in the race for further mergers and acquisitions as soon as we find one,” he admits.