MUMBAI: Kotak Mahindra Bank Saturday confirmed that it is evaluating Deutsche Bank's retail business, which is on the block, while stating that it has dropped out of the IDBI Bank acquisition race because of valuation concerns, calling it 'difficult to swallow'.
Strategic Filters for Acquisitions
Responding to queries at an earnings press conference, Ashok Vaswani, MD & CEO, said the bank would pursue deals only if they met three filters: strategic fit, financial viability, and manageable execution without straining management bandwidth. He added that the same criteria would be applied to evaluate Deutsche Bank's assets.
IDBI Bank Valuation Concerns
On IDBI, Vaswani stated that Kotak had examined the bank from every angle from a valuation perspective. 'Obviously it was very highly valued. Of course, it has some kind of scale but it wasn't really a must for us to do. Obviously, it would have been a difficult thing to swallow,' he said. The government is currently reviewing how to proceed with a fresh bid to sell its stake in IDBI Bank, along with LIC's.
Financial Performance
Kotak Mahindra Bank reported a standalone net profit of Rs 4,026.6 crore for the quarter ending March 31, 2026, up 13.4% year-on-year from Rs 3,551.7 crore, supported by strong loan growth and lower provisions.
