IIFL Finance Ltd, which counts Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa-led Fairfax as an investor, has secured $100 million in debt funding from international financial institutions.
The Mumbai-based non-banking financial company raised $50 million each from Export Development Canada (EDC) and Germany’s Deutsche Bank, it said in a statement.
The capital infusion comes as IIFL Finance has been buying back dollar bonds. It had raised $400 million through its maiden dollar bond issue in February 2020. The NBFC has bought back the maximum possible amount, as approved by the Reserve Bank of India, with the remaining amount due for maturity later in April.
The cost of the latest borrowing at a “competitive rate” is expected to result in “significant savings” in borrowing costs, the company said.
“These funds are long-term in nature and will help us further strengthen our ALM position and support our continuous growth across our core businesses,” said Kapish Jain, Group Chief Financial Officer at IIFL Finance. ALM is short for asset-liability mismatch.
With assets under management of Rs 57,941 crores (as of December 2022), IIFL Finance is one of the largest retail-focused non-banking financial companies in India covering segments like home loan, gold loan, digital loan and microfinance loans.
Deutsche Bank acted as lead arranger, book runner and co-financier for the deal.
This is IIFL’s second loan from EDC. In 2019, it borrowed $100 million from EDC, which is owned by the Government of Canada and supports trade between the North American nation and other countries.
