International Finance Corporation (IFC) plans to offer up to $100 million (around Rs 756 crore) in debt to Fullerton India Credit Company Ltd (FICCL), which is owned by Singapore state investment firm Temasek.
FICCL will use the funds to boost its lending program to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India, especially in low-income states and also to women entrepreneurs, the World Bank’s private-sector investment arm IFC said in a statement.
In 2015, FICCL, which is a non-banking subsidiary of Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd, had raised Rs 450 crore from IFC. Temasek had invested $48.6 million in FICCL in 2005 and picked up a 99.7% stake.
Mumbai-based FICCL is said to have nearly 648 branches and is present in over 58,000 thousand villages in India. As of the end of December 2019, FICCL’s loan portfolio stood at $3.3 billion.
IFC’s recent India bets
The investment in Suguna Group is the latest example of the Washington-headquartered IFC’s commitment to India, which is its single-largest portfolio market. Apart from its direct investments that involve both equity and debt funding, the institution also actively invests PE and VC funds.
In March, IFC plans to offer up to $54 million (around Rs 397 crore) in debt to poultry company Suguna Group.
In February, IFC said it will invest nearly $30 million in private equity-backed Future Lifestyle Fashions.
In October last year, it said that it was planning to make an equity investment of up to $20 million (around Rs 141.82 crore then) in the overseas unit of agricultural producer Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company Ltd. (Mahyco India).
In July, it took part in business-to-business marketplace Bizongo’s Series C funding round, which saw the startup valued at nearly $100 million. In the same month, the firm said it would provide $150 million in the form of a five-year senior loan to private-sector lender RBL Bank.
