IPO-bound financial services company, Navi Technologies has appointed Meesho’s co-founder and chief executive officer Vidit Aatrey as an independent director on its board of directors.
The Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal-led Navi Technologies recently appointed three other independent directors - WhatsApp India chief, Abhijit Bose; Shripad Shrikrishna Nadkarni, an FMCG industry veteran and former PwC executive and Bank of Baroda board member, Usha A. Narayanan.
With this appointment, Navi’s Board, which now comprises 7 members, will have majority representation from independent directors. The other board members include Bansal himself, co-founder Ankit Agarwal and Anand Sinha, the former Deputy Governor of the RBI.
“I am pleased to welcome Bobby (Abhijit), Shripad, Usha and, most recently, Vidit to our board. They each bring a unique perspective and I believe they will add significant strategic value to Navi as we continue to grow. These appointments further reinforce our commitment to setting high standards in corporate governance," said Bansal in a statement.
Sachin Bansal-led Navi Technologies was reported in March to be gearing up for Rs 4,000 crore initial public offering (IPO).
The IPO, which will be a completely fresh issue of equity, is likely to open in June.
There will be no offer-for-sale component and Bansal, who has invested around Rs 4,000 crore into Navi till date, is not diluting his stake in the IPO, according to the report.
Bengaluru-based Navi, which was set up in 2018 and turned profitable in 2020-21, passed a special resolution recently to convert the company from private to a public limited entity and rename it to Navi Technologies Ltd.
As per its website, Navi is a digital lending app which provides loans up to Rs 20 lakh instantly through a completely paperless process.
Its lending book is currently over Rs 3,500 crore, led by the personal loan book and followed by home loans, passive funds and microfinance loans.
In 2021, the company started its asset management business via the acquisition of Essel Asset Management. Its first fund – the Navi Nifty 50 Index Fund - was launched in July last year with Rs 167.3 crore worth assets under management (AUM). Since its launch, the AMC has filed for 17 new passive funds with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Navi has appointed ICICI Securities, BofA Securities and Axis Capital to manage its public issue and plans to utilize the funds for its two subsidiaries, Navi Finserv Pvt. Ltd and Navi General Insurance. The financial services company will allocate Rs Rs 2,370 crore for Navi Finserv and Rs 150 crore for Navi General Insurance.
