Unity SFB's Aviom Housing acquisition may take 3-4 months to complete

Unity Small Finance Bank has emerged as the winning bidder for Aviom India Housing Finance, but completion may take 3-4 months as key regulatory and creditor approvals are pending

It might take another three to four months for Unity Small Finance Bank (SFB) to complete the acquisition process of beleaguered Aviom India Housing Finance, as several approvals remain pending, including from the Reserve Bank of India, sources aware of the development said.

 

Others whose approval is required include the committee of creditors (CoC), and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

 

Besides this, the eventual integration of the housing finance company’s portfolio and employees into the bank might also take time, the sources said.

 

According to reports, Unity SFB’s bid of nearly ₹978 crore as an upfront payment helped it edge out two other bidders to emerge as the winner. Further, reports said the offer by Unity SFB will lead to over 70 per cent recovery for the lenders of Aviom India Housing Finance, which includes the likes of HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Capital, IDFC First Bank, and State Bank of India (SBI).

 

 

While claims amounting to ₹1,547 crore have been received from financial creditors of Aviom India Housing, ₹1,383 crore has been admitted, according to the latest available data.

 

Unity SFB, the newest entrant in the small finance bank space and owned 51 per cent by the Centrum Group and 49 per cent by fintech major BharatPe, is looking to enter the mortgage business, which is currently missing from its portfolio. The bank has been exploring both organic and inorganic opportunities, and the acquisition of Aviom Housing is one of the ways it plans to build its mortgage lending business.

 

Unity SFB has said they will get into the mortgage business once the sale of its housing finance vertical receives RBI approval. Last year, the Centrum Group sold its entire stake of 56.4 per cent to Gaja Capital, Lightspeed, and Premji Invest backed Weaver Services. The transaction is still to get RBI approval.

 

In a recent interview with Business Standard, Jaspal Bindra, executive chairman of the Centrum Group said, “Going forward, we will get into mortgages once we sell the housing finance company. The transaction has been closed, but is pending RBI approval. We are one of the bidders for Aviom Housing Finance and will pursue both routes – organic and inorganic”.

 

Unity SFB’s advances portfolio currently includes microfinance, MSME lending (both secured and unsecured), commercial banking, credit cards and gold loans, among others. The bank aims to ensure that no single product accounts for more than 25 per cent of its portfolio by the time it goes for an IPO, and that no single state contributes more than 15 per cent in terms of branches, business volumes or overall exposure.

 

Aviom India Housing was admitted into insolvency in February 2025 following a plea by the RBI. It had moved the NCLT under the Financial Service Providers (FSP) Insolvency Rules, 2019, leading to the imposition of an interim moratorium that restricts legal proceedings, asset transfers and recovery actions against the company.

 

The RBI also appointed Ram Kumar, former chief general manager of Punjab National Bank (PNB), as the administrator of Aviom India Housing Finance. The regulatory action came two months after the lender received a notice from its statutory auditors flagging potential discrepancies in its financial records.