Morgan Stanley leads $53m round in India’s Janalakshmi MFI
Microfinance lender Janalakshmi Financial Services has raised INR3.25 billion ($52.8 million) in a Series D round of funding led by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia.
Other new investors included Tata Capital Growth Fund and QRG Enterprises, the promoter holding company of electrical goods maker Havells India.
Existing investors - Citi Venture Capital International (CVCI), which held a 24.88% stake, Caspian Advisors' India Financial Inclusion Fund with a 10.24% holding, and Vallabh Bhansali, the co-founder of Enam Financial Consultants, also participated in the deal.
A secondary transaction worth INR250 million provided an exit for Lok Capital and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, both of which were early stage Series A investors.
Janalakshmi is a for-profit microfinance institution (MFI) with assets of more than INR12 billion. The Bangalore-based company is focused on lending in urban areas in 11 states, and posted a net profit of INR180.6 million on total revenue of INR1.69 billion in the year ended March 2013.
The non-banking financial company applied for a banking license last month.
Previous rounds of funding have also seen investment from GAWA Microfinance Fund, Tree Line Asia Master Fund and the Bellwether Microfinance Fund.
Earlier this year Lok Capital also exited its investment in Satin Creditcare Network when the MFI raised INR410 million from MicroVest II, ShoreCap II and Danish Microfinance Partners.
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