Save Solutions Pvt Ltd, a rural-focused financial services group, has acquired New Habitat Housing Finance and Development Ltd (NHHFDL), the company said in a statement on Friday.
The company, launched in 2010 by Ajeet Kumar Singh, Pankaj Kumar, and Ajay Kumar Sinha, believes that the acquisition will further strengthen its financial inclusion portfolio. The founders have worked for over 15 years in the financial services and banking sectors in the country.
“The acquisition brings our company full circle. Save Solutions excels in offering all banking and financial products under one roof to rural and semi-urban people. Through the acquisition of housing finance company New Habitat, we are on the fast track to becoming a full-spectrum financial inclusion group. It will go a long way in expanding our offering to underserved clients,” said Ajeet Kumar Singh, Founder, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Save Solutions.
The company has a pan-India presence in 488 districts, with over 12,000 kiosks and Customer Service Points (CSPs), manned by over 25,000 people, the statement said.
Earlier this week, Save Solutions raised Rs 60 crore funding from existing investors, Incofin and Maj Invest, for upscaling its two fully-owned subsidiaries operating in the micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSME) and grameen microfinance segment.
Save has established its banking correspondent business, and executed transactions valued at approximately Rs 41,037 crore in FY21. It has also entered into the lending space to the unserved and underserved population through its two wholly-owned subsidiaries that are engaged in the MSME segment and microfinance businesses, with a cumulative loan book of Rs 319 crore, the statement said.
The group is backed by impact investors, Incofin and MAJ invest.
Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management is a global independent impact investment fund manager, focused on financial inclusion, the agri-food value chain and safe water. It is an alternative investment fund management firm, with over EUR 1 billion (around $1.12 billion) assets under management (AUM). Incofin has invested (via equity and debt financing) over EUR 2.7 billion (around $3 billion) in more than 320 investees, financial institutions, and SMEs in the agri-food value chain across 65 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe.
In July 2021, it announced the close of its maiden India-focused equity fund.
Denmark-based Maj Invest has about $18 billion assets under management, and also provides services in the private equity (PE)space. The financial inclusion business segment is one of the several business areas of Maj Invest, and operates via Maj Invest’s regulated institutional platform. Maj Invest’s financial inclusion funds are sector focused, closed-end PE funds, investing growth capital directly into financial institutions across Asia, Latin America and Africa. It recently launched its third fund.
