Equifax, a global data, analytics and technology company, on Thursday announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 per cent ownership of Equifax Credit Information Services Private Ltd (ECIS).

Since 2010, ECIS has operated as a joint venture between Equifax and leading Indian financial institutions, including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Prime, Sundaram Finance and Union Bank of India. Following this transaction, ECIS will be 100 per cent owned by Equifax.

Going by the regulatory filings made by each of the above mentioned sellers, Equifax would have paid abut Rs 370 crore to convert ECIS into a wholly-owned subsidiary.

“This investment represents the strong confidence that Equifax has in India’s economy and ECIS’s growth potential,” said Mark W. Begor, Equifax CEO.

ECIS is a full-service credit bureau offering its services to all segments of the lending industry – Retail Banking, MFI and Commercial. It posted a net profit of Rs 11.87 crore on total income of Rs 50.83 crore in FY2019.

In regulatory filings, Bank of Baroda and Sundaram Finance (holding 10 per cent stake each in ECIS) said they had executed a Share Purchase Agreement for sale of their entire equity stake in ECIS for Rs 91 crore each.

State Bank of India said it has executed a Share Purchase Agreement for sale of its entire equity stake of 7.41 per cent in ECIS for about Rs 67 crore. Kotak Mahindra Prime, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank, has executed a Share Purchase Agreement for sale of its entire equity stake of 5.56 per cent in ECIS for about 51 crore.

Union Bank of India (4.17 per cent) and Bank of India (3.50 per cent) said they have executed a Share Purchase Agreement for sale of their entire equity stake in ECIS for Rs 38 crore and Rs 32 crore, respectively.

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