Kedaara Capital invests in Au Financiers

Kedaara Capital, the India-focussed private equity fund, has made an investment in Au Financiers India Limited, a financial services firm offering secured lending to under-served rural and semi-urban customers in India.

The amount invested has not been disclosed.

This is Kedaara’s maiden investment in the financial services sector in India.

Founded in 1996 by a first-generation entrepreneur, Sanjay Agarwal, in Jaipur, Au is a non-banking finance company (NBFC), which operates across contiguous semi-urban and rural regions in North, West and Central India. 

Au claims to serve 270,000 clients, with over Rs 5,000 crore in assets under management

Commenting on the deal, Sanjay Agarwal, Managing Director of Au Financiers said, “Over the years, Au Financiers has made access to affordable credit a reality for underserved individuals and MSMEs, who were otherwise exploited by informal lending channels.”

Pramod Bhasin, Advisory Operating Partner, Kedaara Capital commented, “We believe that financial services should grow at a faster rate than India’s overall economy, and represent a major opportunity."

In April, Kedaara Capital had acquired minority stake in Mahindra Logistics, part of the $16.7-billion Mahindra Group, for Rs 200 crore. 

Kedaara Capital raised a substantial amount of over $540 million in October 2013. 

Kedaara, set up by Manish Kejriwal (former India head of Temasek Holdings), Sunish Sharma (former managing director of General Atlantic India) and Nishant Sharma in October 2011, had roped in UK-based PE firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (CD&R).