Gold loan firm Manappuram Finance Ltd. will acquire a majority stake in Chennai-based Asirvad Micro-finance Private Ltd. (AMPL), a firm in which Lok Capital has a 24 per cent stake. “Lok Capital will exit Asirvad through the sale,” a person with knowledge of the deal said on condition of anonymity.
In 2012, Lok Capital invested close to $1.75 million in AMPL for a 24 per cent stake at an undisclosed premium. In an announcement to stock exchanges, Manappuram said it would buy the majority stake through combination of secondary purchase of equity shares from certain existing shareholders and primary investment by way of subscription to equity shares in Asirvad. It did not name the existing investors.
AMPL, promoted by Mr. S V Raja Vaidyanathan, an IIT and IIM alumni, is a RBI-registered NBFC-MFI having operations in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Odhisa and Gujarat. The firm is focused on lending to poor women, who are engaged in regular income-generating economic activities. Last month, Manappuram Finance said it was looking to diversify into business of micro-finance and commercial vehicle financing.
In March this year, the company agreed to buy Milestone Home Finance Company Pvt. Ltd. (Milestone) from Jaypee Hotels Ltd. for an undisclosed amount.
