Karvy's NBFC arm eyes Rs200-cr PE funding

Karvy Financial Services, non-banking finance company (NBFC) of the Karvy Group, hopes to raise Rs 150-200 crore from PE investors.

Ernst & Young is believed to have been appointed to find suitable ones. Amit Saxena, chief executive officer, confirmed the development but would not disclose financial details. Established in July 2009, Karvy’s NBFC arm sells products such as loans against shares, properties and loans against commodities. It also funds small and medium enterprises and gold loans. The book size is Rs 1,300 crore and the plan is to reach Rs 1,800 crore this financial year. The net profit was Rs 27 crore last year.

NBFCs are finding the current scenario, with banks tightening lending, a good opportunity to expand. PE entities see NBFCs as an attractive investment target. This calendar year saw 34 PE or venture capital deals in NBFCs, worth $580 million. Since 2009, as many as 162 deals worth $2.4 billion have taken place in Indian NBFCs, according to VCCedge data. This year saw one of the largest, when Warburg Pincus acquired a 43 per cent stake in Future Capital Holdings (now Capital First) from Pantaloon Retail for Rs 470 crore. In October, Warburg increased its stake to 68.4 per cent by investing another Rs 271 crore; its total investment in Capital First is now above Rs 800 crore. Last year, leading PE companies such as the Ashmore Group, Everstone Capital Management and Goldman Sachs had joined hands to launch an NBFC, Indostar Capital.

TOP DEALS IN NBFC                                                     (In $million)
Buyer	Target	Deal value
Warburg Pincus India	Capital First	155.63
International Finance Corp	Religare Enterprises	75
Warburg Pincus India, Intl Finance Corp	AU Financiers India	50
Creador Capital Fund, Multiples PE	Cholamandalam Investment	42.38
NYLIM Jacob Ballas India Fund III	Religare Finvest Ltd	37.17