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Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm, on Monday said that an affiliate of private equity funds managed by Warburg Pincus LLC has acquired controlling stake in Vistaar Finance (Vistaar), a NBFC lending to MSMEs in India, in partnership with Avijit Saha.
This is one of the largest investments in the financial services sector by the firm in India.
Kotak Investment Banking acted as the exclusive financial advisor to this Transaction.
As part of the transaction, Avijit Saha will be joining the company as the CEO and will be co-investing in the company in partnership with Warburg Pincus.
Avijit Saha brings over 30 years of experience in retail, rural, digital banking and SME credit.
Saha was most recently the Head –Rural & Inclusive Banking & President at ICICI Foundation where he was responsible for Financial Solution to Rural Customers and was also responsible for building the CSR strategy for the Bank.
Vistaar has emerged as one of India’s leading MSME lenders in India, with a clear vision to serve small businesses and be one of the important catalyst in India’s drive towards “Make in India”.
Vistaar operates in 12 states, having around 40,000 loyal customers, with more than 2,500 employees, and manages an AUM of ₹3,150 crore as of March 2023.
Post the transaction, Vistaar has a net-worth of ₹1,210 cr with a capital adequacy of 37 per cent, making it one of the best capitalized NBFCs in the country to take advantage of the growth opportunities ahead.
Narendra Ostawal, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus said, “Over the years, Brahmanand Hegde and Ramakrishna Nishtala, the Founders of Vistaar Finance have built a strong platform and Vistaar Finance has emerged as a leading MSME lender to small enterprises in semi-urban and rural India that are underserved by formal sources of credit.
India is on course to becoming a $5 trillion economy over the next few years with the MSME sector playing a key role in achieving this goal. Warburg Pincus sees a significant opportunity in this space. Avijit has a long and successful track record in areas of rural, retail banking and SME credit. He also brings great strengths in building and scaling different business models, and we are excited to partner with Avijit in the further build-out of the Vistaar platform.”
Avijit Saha, CEO, Vistaar Finance said, “I am excited to partner with Warburg Pincus given the firm’s global expertise in financial services & long-term business building focus in India.”
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