"We are not looking at global mergers or takeover or anything. In a way we are well established in 18 countries and we have a very large network in the 18 countries," ICICI Bank managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar told PTI, when asked whether she was looking at properties abroad that were available at a discount.
However, as regards to domestic acquisition, she said, the bank is open to inorganic growth and would look for the right opportunity.
"In Indian context I would not rule it out but I will also say that there is no great existing opportunity that exits," she said.
"So there is nothing in the offing. In that sense I will not rule it out but as I say I don't see any opportunity just now," she said.
In the past, ICICI Bank had acquired two domestic banks Sangli Bank and the Bank of Madura to increase its presence in the country.
Currently, the bank has a network of 1,631 branches and about 4,883 ATMs in the country.
ICICI Bank has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Russia and Canada and branches in the United States, Singapore, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Qatar and the Dubai International Finance Centre.
Besides, it has representative offices in the United Arab Emirates, China, South Africa, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Kochhar said, "and while there may be and there are very good opportunities to acquire because in the current scenario valuations are pretty low, we are not looking at any of those opportunities because we believe a lot of opportunities are there within the country itself."
ICICI Bank does not need to map any more nations because 18 is a very good coverage, she said. "So we will be just cementing our position there," she added.
For the quarter ended December 2009, Canada subsidiary of ICICI Bank posted a profit after tax of CAD 4.8 million. The Canadian unit's capital position continued to be strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 23.5 per cent as on December 31, 2009.
As regards the bank's UK subsidiary, the PAT stood at USD 7.3 million. At the same time the capital adequacy ratio of ICICI Bank UK was at 17 per cent at the end of December 2009.