Confirming the development, SBI deputy managing director (international operations) DP Roy told The Financial Express on Wednesday: "We have pumped in $2.8 million to raise our stake to 51 per cent. With the raise in the SBI stake, we have also acquired the management control in the bank."

SBI Caps executive PGR Prasad has been appointed as the new CEO of INMBL.

The bank is now drawing up plans for restructuring the business focus of the joint venture. "Even though it is a merchant bank, it has been doing the traditional business of taking corporate deposits and lending. Now the thrust will be on real merchant banking activities like loan syndication and corporate advisory services," Roy said.

According to SBI insiders, the bank has beenexploring all possibilities of pushing its stake above 50 per cent for sometime. It bagged the opportunity only recently with the Central Bank of Nigeria issuing a dictat making it mandatory for all merchant banks operating in Nigeria to have an equity base of at least Niara 500 million ($=84 Niara).

"We have raised our stake through fresh fund infusion. SBI has pumped in the entire money required to attain the Nigerian central bank's stipulation of minimum capital base by December 31 this year," Roy said. The other stakeholders in the merchant bank are Nigerian Reinsurance Corporation, a local group of industries and some individuals.

INMBL was promoted in the early '80s along with some local business groups and the Nigerian Reinsurance Corporation primarily to cater to the ethnic Indian trading communities. However, the business of the bank has not grown phenomenonally primarily due to the recession which gripped the country in 1983. Reeling under recession, the country defaulted on trade debts whichwere converted into long-dated promissory notes. In 1997 (January-December), INMBL posted a net profit of Rs 1.21 crore.

"We have recast our international banking policy. The objective is to have majority stakes in all joint ventures abroad. We also want to increase the profitability of our international branches as well as overseas ventures," Roy Said.

SBI has three wholly-owned subsidiaries abroad -- SBI European Bank Plc, SBI Canada and SBI California -- and four joint ventures, namely Nepal SBI Bank, Bank of Bhutan, SB International, Mauritius, and INMBL in Lagos. The combined net pofit of the seven outfits was pegged at Rs 39.40 crore last year.

SBI is a minority partner in Nepal SBI Bank and Bank of Bhutan. It plans to raise it stake in SB International, Mauritius.