Sachin Bansal’s Big Ticket Investment of 739 Crore In A NBFC Creates Ripples in The Financial World
The poster boy of the Indian start-up industry, Sachin Bansal, famously known as the Flipkart co-founder, has been hogging the limelight recently, as he seems to be on a shopping spree.
His latest investment on 25 September 2019, has found huge media coverage as he acquired a 94% stake in the NBFC, Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services Pvt. Ltd (CRIDS), for a significant sum of $104 million (739 crores).
Bansal’s 5.5% stake sale in Flipkart in the much talked about deal with Walmart in 2018, has fetched him more than $1 billion and since then, he has been in the news for his various investments.
He has invested in Piramal Enterprises, Altico Capital India Ltd, IndoStar Capital Finance Ltd, Ather Energy, Ola, and, now the NBFC- CRIDS!
CRIDS Background
Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services Pvt. Ltd (CRIDS), is a Bengaluru-headquartered non-banking financial company (NBFC), at present operating in 5 states- Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.
The billionaire technology entrepreneur with this acquisition has forayed into financial services as he himself stated in the note to the press, “This acquisition is our entry into financial services.”
With this acquisition, Sachin Bansal is once again ready to don the hat of a CEO and be at the helm of affairs but at the same time, he specified that no significant changes shall take place in the company.
The IIT-Delhi graduate was all praise for Anand Rao and Samit Shetty, who co-founded Chaitanya in 2009, and made it quite clear that they would continue in their role as before.
He stated, “Samit and Anand have built a great company that provides much-needed financial access to people who don’t have access to other formal finance. I look forward to working closely with Samit and Anand and building further on the solid work they have done.”
General Impact of This Acquisition
In general, it sends a very strong message that the NBFC sector has a strong prospect of growth in India in the future. Bansal’s huge investment in this segment brings forth the fact that he has full faith in the NBFC growth story otherwise he would not have taken such a big step.
A tech-savvy, shrewd, and astute businessman that he is, Sachin Bansal wants to tap the market of lending services to its potential, which he feels has not been done to date.
Impact on CRIDS
In his interview with TOI, the new CEO said, “We believe, especially in the rural area, the level of under-penetration is much more.” Sachin plans to invest most of the amount in an expansion of CRIDS and wants to target low-income and middle-income groups.
At present CRIDS has 195 branches, and a customer base of 350,000 with total revenue of Rs 110.5 crore, which is certainly going to increase with Sachin in the lead.
Samit Shetty, the co-founder of CRIDS, echoed this sentiment very aptly when he stated, “We are looking forward to benefiting from his insights and experience with technology, and how that can be leveraged for improving access to financial services, financial inclusion and making our business better, more sustainable and customer-centric.”
A Futuristic Approach
The success of all business ventures lies in comprehending the future scope of it, and Sachin surely has proved himself to be a leader who possesses a clear understanding of what the forthcoming time needs.
NBFCs have a pivotal role to play in promoting the inclusive financial growth of India. India has a largely unorganized sector, rural people, low-income class, and bank-excluded customers, and the NBFCs can cater to them and contribute greatly towards the economic growth of the nation.