Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd (FFH) has reached an agreement to sell its 74.9% stake in its non-banking finance company to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc (SMFG).
The development marks a step towards fully divesting Fullerton India Credit Company (FICC). “SMFG will eventually acquire 100% of FICC,” Fullerton India Housing Finance Company Ltd said.
“We intend to leverage our expertise in the Japan market as well as capabilities of our franchises across key emerging Asian markets. We are pleased to partner with FFH and jointly accelerate FICC’s growth strategy,” Jun Ohta, president and group CEO of SMFG, said.
Fullerton India said that its housing finance company will continue to be its wholly owned subsidiary.
In 2016, Fullerton India had launched Fullerton India Home Finance Company Ltd which operates under the Grihashakti brand.
In November last year, VCCircle exclusively reported that Fullerton India had received interest from private equity firms to buy the housing finance arm.
Fullerton India began operations in 2007. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of FFH, which itself is fully owned by Singapore state investment firm Temasek.
It operates in verticals including personal and business loans, SME loans, and housing finance. It has more than 14,000 employees who serve over 3.6 million customers across the country.
SMFG offers a diverse range of financial services, including commercial banking, leasing, securities and consumer finance, in Japan. It is listed on the Tokyo and New York Stock Exchanges and had a market capitalisation of about $47.4 billion as of June 30.
Citigroup, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Allen & Overy acted as financial and legal advisors to FFH, while JPMorgan, Anderson Mori and Tomotsune were financial and legal advisors to SMFG.
