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Billionaire Ajay Piramal is looking to acquire a non-banking finance company (NBFC) and has sounded off a couple of investment bankers to short-list a firm at the earliest.
The move follows the intent shown by Piramal Enterprises (PEL), the flagship company of Piramal Group, to focus on its financial services business.
“Piramal wants to buy an NBFC that would fit in with his plans of growing the financial services segment and one that compliments the business of Shriram Capital. The group is looking at all opportunities,” a source close to the development told BusinessLine .
A couple of companies were evaluated, another source said, adding no firm has been short-listed “as of now”. “It might take some time before the group locks on a target,” the second source added.
The sources declined to be identified as the discussions were in private. The names of the companies are being withheld as BusinessLine could not independently verify them.
An e-mail sent to Piramal Group did not elicit any response as of press time Thursday.
Piramal Enterprises had picked up stakes in Chennai-based Shriram group companies between 2013 and 2015. This included a 20 per cent stake in Shriram Capital, with Ajay Piramal taking over its chairman.
Piramal, who is the chairman of PEL, has an option to increase his stake in Shriram Capital, and to merge the company with its financial services business. This would create India’s largest NBFC, while acquisitions would further consolidate its position.
Earlier, Piramal was also quoted as saying that the group’s financial services business will overtake its pharmaceutical business this year.
Financial playUpping the ante in the financial space, PEL was also gearing up to launch its housing finance business by July, Piramal had told BusinessLine in May.
“We hope to get the licence soon and get started in July. Our team is in place, our technology platform, the plans are done; we’re waiting for the licence to come through. We expect there to be synergies with this and what we’re already doing in real estate finance,” Piramal had said in May.
For the fourth quarter ended March 31, the group’s pharmaceutical business contributed ₹1,214 crore to the topline, growing 30.7 per cent. The financial services arm grew 81 per cent over the same period, with revenues touching ₹999 crore, up from ₹552 crore in Q4 FY16.
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