Janalakshmi raises around ₹700 cr
MUMBAI: IN 2015, THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA ISSUED SMALL FINANCE BANK LICENCES TO 10 ENTITIES, INCLUDING JANALAKSHMI
Janalakshmi Financial Services has raised ₹600-700 crore (around $100 million) in latest round of fund-raising ahead of its transformation as a small finance bank, said two people aware of the development.
In 2015, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued small finance bank licences to 10 entities, including Janalakshmi.
The others are Equitas Holdings Ltd, Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd, Au Financiers (India) Ltd, Capital Local Area Bank Ltd, Disha Microfin Pvt Ltd, ESAF Microfinance and Investments Pvt Ltd, RGVN (North East) Microfinance Ltd, Suryoday Micro Finance Pvt Ltd and Utkarsh Micro Finance Pvt Ltd.
“Janalakshmi has raised around ₹600-700 crore from a bunch of new investors, including HarbourVest, which has invested around ₹250-260 crore (approximately $40 million). The round has been closed recently,” said one of the persons cited above, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak with the media.
Mint could not ascertain names of the other investors that participated in the latest round.
HarbourVest is an independent, global private markets investment firm with more than $45 billion in assets under management. It has committed more than $32 billion to newly-formed funds, completed over $18 billion in secondary purchases and invested over $7 billion directly in operating companies, according to its website.
The latest round of funding follows the ₹1,030 crore that Janalakshmi raised in September from its existing investors.
The round was led by global private equity major TPG along with Treeline, a Morgan Stanley Asia-managed private equity fund, QRG Enterprises Ltd and Enam Group’s Vallabh Bhansali.
In April 2016, TPG had led a $150 million funding round in Janalakshmi.
With the closure of this round of financing, Janalakshmi will enter the last phase of its conversion into a small finance bank, said the second person cited above, also requesting anonymity. “The firm has applied to the registrar of companies (RoC) for changing its name to Jana Small Finance Bank and will soon be approaching the RBI for a commencement certificate, post which it can start its small finance bank operations,” he said.