After Merger, HDFC To Vault Into Ranks Of World's Most Valuable Banks

The tieup of HDFC Bank Ltd. and Housing Development Finance Corp. creates a lender that ranks fourth in equity market capitalisation.

A homegrown Indian company will for the first time rank among the world's most valuable banks after completing a merger, marking a new challenger to the largest American and Chinese lenders occupying the coveted top spots.

The tieup of HDFC Bank Ltd. and Housing Development Finance Corp. creates a lender that ranks fourth in equity market capitalisation, behind JPMorgan Chase & Co., Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and Bank of America Corp., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It's valued at about $172 billion.

With the merger likely effective July 1, the new HDFC Bank entity will have around 120 million customers - that's greater than the population of Germany. It'll also increase its branch network to over 8,300 and boast of total headcount of more than 177,000 employees.

In the charts below, we highlight the scale of this global banking giant and examine some of the challenges ahead for its stock price.