Opportunity International Australia has increased its stake in ESAF Microfinance and Investments (P) Ltd through Delhi-based Dia Vikas Capital, a 100 per cent subsidiary.

ESAF Microfinance is Kerala's largest microfinance organisation with more than 4.5 lakh clients. Through the new deal, Opportunity International has increased its stake in ESAF by 6.31 per cent. With this, the equity capital base of ESAF has crossed Rs 48 crore.

In 2009, the Australian company bought around 18 per cent of stake in ESAF for Rs 12 crore. The new deal was aimed to generate capital for ESAF Microfinance in order to serve its clients more effectively, said Mr K. Paul Thomas, Managing Director, ESAF Microfinance.

Ms K. Ranjini, Managing Director, Dia Vikas Capital, said they had decided to increase the stake based on the performance and the future plans of the company. Opportunity International is a global leader in providing microfinance and enterprise services.

ESAF was launched in 1992 with the objective to create opportunities for identifying and developing people's ability by undertaking various developmental activities, like micro-enterprise development, human resource development and community development.

ESAF Microfinance has a cumulative disbursement of loans worth Rs 1,000 crore, apart from an outstanding loan of Rs 207 crore. In 2009 and 2010, ESAF has won the Social Performance Reporting Award-Silver from Mixmarket, a monitoring agency based in the US. Besides, it was the one and only microfinance company in Kerala graded ‘mfr4' by Crisil. The company now has presence in seven States, including Jharkhand and Haryana.

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