Private sector bank Punjab National Bank has divested its entire 30 per cent equity stake in India Factoring and Financial Solutions Limited (IFFSL) to FIMBank Malta for Rs 107.83 crore ($18 million), the lender said in a stock market disclosure earlier this month.
Following the acquisition of PNB’s stake, FIMBank's equity holding in IFFSL has increased to 79 per cent.
The other shareholders of IFFSL include Italy's Banca IFIS (10 per cent), Employees Trust (10 per cent) and Mumbai-based Blend Financial Services (1 per cent).
Malta-based credit institution FIMBank Group specialises in international trade finance with offices in Malta, London and Dubai. The firm offers factoring and forfaiting services, with joint-venture factoring companies in Egypt, UAE, Lebanon and Russia.
Recently, FIMBank also increased its stake in Russian factoring operator FactorRus to 80 per cent.
On the other side, founded in 2009 with an initial capital of Rs 100 crore, IFFSL offers financial solutions to over 200 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and small scale industries in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
Shares of PNB were trading at Rs 805 a unit, up 3.24 per cent on the BSE in a strong Mumbai market on Monday.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
