Lending platform Ambit Finvest Pvt. Ltd, which is the non-banking financial company (NBFC) arm of the Ambit Group, said it is raising Rs 410 crore (around $49.2 million), in a primary transaction from Japanese investment bank, Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
The company is also raising Rs 275 crore from existing shareholders, including its parent company, taking the total raised amount to 690 crore.
Historically, Ambit has had an association with Daiwa. Last year, the two companies partnered to collaborate to service global clients for institutional equities as well as for the equity capital markets (IPO, public fund-raising and other related) business, leveraging the Indo-Japan corridor.
Now, further cementing this collaboration, Ambit and Daiwa aim to seize the growth opportunities in the expanding Indian NBFC sector to contribute to the acceleration of financial inclusion, the company said in a statement.
“We see India as a strategically important country which is expected to experience high economic growth in the coming years. We have been conducting business in India through our long-term partnership with Ambit Group. With this new opportunity to invest in Ambit Finvest, which is developing its high-growth non-banking finance business, we believe there is potential for an expansion of our business operations in India,” said Seiji Nakata, President and CEO of Daiwa.
Ambit Finvest, which provides secured, unsecured business and used vehicle loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in India, has been investing in branch infrastructure and technology over the past couple of years.
“Despite being a major driver of the Indian economy, MSMEs need greater access to formal credit and Ambit Finvest has been working towards meeting their credit requirements,” said Ashok Wadhwa, group chief executive officer of Ambit.
Ambit Investment Banking acted as the exclusive adviser for the transaction.
