Following this, the shareholding of the core promoters went up to 17 per cent from 10.5 per cent but some FIIs and institutions have acquired the shares from the group back to back, a GTB release said.

GTB's other technical collaborator, the Malaysian TA Enterprises had divested its 6.12 per cent holding in favour of seven promoters including CMD Ramesh Gelli's two sons, Girish and Niraj Gelli in October.

Subsequently, the holding in the bank by the core promoters and associates had increased to 44.27 per cent of the paid up capital amounting to Rs 104 crore. Though it has divested its stake, which is due to a "possibility" of the Chase group taking it over in the USA, H&Q has assured to continue its support to GTB particularly in the area of personnel training, the release said.

"Now that the foreign holding to the extent of 13 per cent has been vacated by H&Q and TA Enterprise, the bank is exploring tying up with strategic partners who could strengthen the Bank in futuristic areas", it said. On Wednesday on BSE, GTB scrip rose to close the day at Rs 61.25 against Tuesday's close of Rs 52.20. The volume was 83,600.