Mumbai: While denying that any negotiations took place to acquire equity in Yes Bank, State Bank of India (SBI) has said that it has given an in-principle approval to explore investment opportunity.

In a regulatory filing to exchanges, SBI was responding to queries from the bourses as media reports had surfaced on Thursday morning regarding SBI to acquire Yes Bank.

Replying to a question on negotiations held with Yes Bank and from when, SBI said that no such negotiations took place.

Apparently, the matter came to be discussed straight at the board meeting. "However, the matter in regard to Yes Bank was discussed at the meeting of the Central Board of the Bank on March 5 and an in-principle has been given by the Board to explore investment opportunity in the Bank".

SBI replied that it was not aware of any information not disclosed to the exchanges that may have led to the movement in trading. While Yes Bank spiked up sharply by 26 per cent compared to a flat Nifty, SBI trended lower.

Share prices of cash-strapped Yes Bank may see a sharp downturn on Friday as the Reserve Bank of India has superseded its Board of Directors for a period of 30 days owing to serious deterioration in the financial position of the bank.