Who is Erwin Singh Braich? The man who has offered to put $1.2 billion in YES Bank

While SPGP Holdings and Erwin Singh Braich have given a binding term sheet of .2 billion, Citax Group has offered 0 million.

After YES Bank on Friday announced that eight global and domestic investors have shown interest in infusing $2 billion, interest has surged around finding more about them. While SPGP Holdings and Erwin Singh Braich have given a binding term sheet of $1.2 billion, Citax Group has offered $500 million. GMR Group, Rekha Jhunjhunwala, and Aditya Birla Family Office are among others to have offered to invest in YES Bank. Of all the investors, Hong Kong-based SPGP Holdings, backed by the Canadian family office of Erwin Singh Braich, EB Family Trust, is the only large investor to have proposed for infusing the entire $1.2 billion.

Who is Erwin Singh Braich?

Erwin Singh Braich is a Canadian industrialist and philanthropist. He is the founder of The Braich Group of Companies and Trusts. He is the son of a successful businessman Herman Singh Braich who immigrated from Punjab to Canada in 1927. After his demise, Erwin Singh Braich at a young age of twenty left his studies in British Columbia to take over the business. The second-generation 58-year-old Sikh fought a 14-year-long legal battle against the Canadian government for alleged bankruptcy, which he ultimately won. During the course of the court case, Braich even had restrictions on international travel imposed by the government. The net aggregate value of his conglomerate puts him among the richest person in Canada. He is also considered to be one of the richest Indians worldwide.

Meanwhile, YES Bank, in the regulatory filing, said on Friday: “Discussions with investor (Erwin Singh Braich I SPGP Holdings) is ongoing and expected to be concluded shortly….In the meantime the binding term sheet extended till 31 December, 2019.” Earlier this month, Yes Bank CEO Ravneet Gill was reported by the media as saying that the bank had received bids worth $3 billion from eight investors. Yes Bank on September 25, 2019, had announced its capital raising plans and also said it has received ‘strong interest’ from multiple investors.