Mumbai, April 11: Private sector lender Yes Bank has zeroed in on two banks as possible acquisition targets and could execute the buy-out in the next 18-24 months, a top bank official said. "We have one or two banks on our radar...in 18-24-months time, we should be looking at this (a possible acquisition)," Yes Bank's Chairman and Managing Director Rana Kapoor said. With bank valuations still at reasonable levels and not expected to increase in the medium-term, an acquisition would certainly be attractive, he said without giving the names of the two banks in its radar.

"The good news is that valuations are not increasing." Ruling out its acquisition by another bank, the Yes Bank chief said that "(We feel) it would not be desirable to merge with other banks. We don't want to lose our identity, lose direction and lose our vision by doing so." He was responding to reports that a few foreign banks had expressed their interest in acquiring the new generation lender. Recently, HSBC Bank hiked its stake in the bank to 4.88 per cent, which Kapoor termed as "a purely financial investment". While Kapoor remained tight-lipped, the banking industry grapevine feels Karnataka Bank, Karur Vysya Bank and Kerala -based Catholic Syrian Bank, Federal Bank and South Indian Bank could be potential acquisition targets.