Cosmos Cooperative Bank is on a shopping-spree and is looking at acquiring seven more cooperative banks this year in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka. Cosmos completed four mergers in the last fiscal bringing in 26 branches and deposits of Rs 240 crore and advances of Rs 113 crore.
?Cosmos has applied to the RBI for the acquisition of three banks in Gujarat and one bank in Karnataka. Three banks in Maharashtra have reached the due diligence stage,? Mukund Abhyankar, chairman, Cosmos Cooperative Bank said.
?Sri Ram Cooperative Bank of Nipani has three branches, Dholka People?s Cooperative Bank has four branches and National Cooperative Bank of Ahmedabad is a single branch bank,? Abhyankar said. He said these banks were functioning on a no-profit-no-loss basis. The bank?s branch network is expected to touch 100 by December 2007.
Besides the acquisitions, the bank has expanded its product portfolio. Cosmos will be commencing foreign exchange business from September 22, 2007 and is targeting business worth Rs 1,000 crore in the next six months.
After Bombay Mercantile Cooperative Bank and Saraswat Cooperative Bank, Cosmos will be the third cooperative bank to offer forex services.
The bank has Rs 350 crore worth forex business, which it has been routing, through other banks. The bank has received the ?Authorised Dealer-Category-1? license to deal in foreign exchange. Himani Gokhale, general manager, forex, treasury & demat, Cosmos, said that the bank?s domestic treasury portfolio of Rs 2,000 crore would be integrated into the bank?s newly formed forex department that would be located in Pune and Mumbai.
