Premji Invest commits $109m to India's Aditya Birla Capital
Premji Invest, the family office of Wipro chairman Azim Premji, has invested INR7 billion ($109 million) in Aditya Birla Capital (ABCL), the financial services arm of the Aditya Birla Group.
Premji Invest will take a 2.2% stake in ABCL, valuing the company at INR320 billion. The investment is part of an agreement between Aditya Birla Nuvo and Grasim Industries, the parent and sister company respectively of ABCL. Under the deal, the financial services division of Grasim will be transferred to ABCL and the latter will pursue a public listing.
ABCL includes private equity arm Aditya Birla Capital Advisors, along with insurance, corporate lending, structured finance, currency and commodity trading, housing finance, and pension fund management services. As of March 2017, it had a lending book of INR388 billion and INR2.5 trillion in total assets under management across all asset classes.
In addition to financial services, Aditya Birla Nuvo has interests in telecom, manufacturing and solar power. In its most recent annual report, the conglomerate recorded INR56 billion in revenue for the year ended March 2016, down from INR91 billion the year before. Over the same period, net profit dropped from INR5.3 billion to INR3.6 billion.
“ABCL has built a high-quality customer franchise through a profitable and scalable business model, and achieved significant market leadership in certain segments. We believe this partnership will create significant value for all stakeholders," a Premji Invest spokesperson said in a statement.
Since its founding in 2006 Premji Invest has backed a number of technology-based companies both within India and overseas, including US-based mobile operating system Cyanogen and Indian online eyewear retailer Lenskart. The firm also invested $24.8 million in online fashion retailer Myntra in 2014, shortly before the company was acquired by Flipkart at a reported valuation of around $300 million.
More on South Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.