WestBridge invests $16m in Indian housing finance company Aptus

Set up in 2010 by M. Anandan and based in Chennai, Aptus provides housing finance to middle-income, self-employed customers - primarily in semi-urban and rural markets - in the range of INR300,000 to INR1.5 million. The business operates through its 40 branches in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

The investment was made via the WestBridge Crossover Fund - an evergreen vehicle with a corpus of $850 million, after the initial $500 million in capital was supplemented by an additional $350 million earlier this year. Aptus' existing investors include Caspian Impact Investment Advisors‘ India Financial Inclusion Fund and Granite Hill India.

Aptus will use the proceeds of the investment to build on its existing presence with a view to increasing its loan portfolio from INR3.2 billion to more than INR20 billion over the next four years. The company reported a pre-tax profit of INR82.3 million for the financial year ended March, up 143% year-on-year. 

"Affordable housing finance is a very large market, and essential for broader financial inclusion," said K.P. Balaraj, managing director at WestBridge. "We believe Aptus with its very strong leadership and credit culture, will emerge as a market leader in this segment."

Earlier this year WestBridge invested INR1.6 billion in the Bangalore-based non-banking finance company Vistaar Financial Services. It was also one of the earliest investors in SKS Microfinance.

 

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Financials
• Expansion
• India
• WestBridge Capital Partners
• Growth capital
• Financial Services