Saudi firm UniTrans buys stake in India's Tranzlease Holdings

TranzLease is an emerging automobile leasing company. The strategic stake acquisition is through infusion of growth capital into TranzLease, which will allow the company to fuel its growth plans ahead.

UniTrans is currently one of the largest and most successful leasing and car rental players in the GCC region and is majority owned by the ZAHID group.

The strategic investment by UniTrans is part of the overall plans to expand into South Asia starting with India where both the automobile sector and automobile leasing sector is experiencing exponential growth, a statement released by UniTrans said.

Automobile leasing is fast becoming the most preferred method of procurement of vehicles by the value conscious Indian corporate sector.

It provides tangible and material benefits, financially and also from an HR perspective for companies seeking to enhance value for employees, it said.

Abdulaziz Al Mutlaq, Managing Director & CEO, Yazi Capital BSC (c), the Bahrain based investment firm, which arranged the deal, said, they are looking at further mandates in India as their Middle Eastern investor clients wish to have "a pie of Indian success stories".

The auto lease sector has already been witnessing a CAGR of around 65 per cent over the last decade - as corporate India experiences robust growth, salary increments and there is a strong and growing shift from purchase of vehicles to lease of vehicles, it said.