India’s education-focused non-banking financial company (NBFC), Avanse Financial Services Ltd, on Wednesday announced that it has secured about $49 million (Rs 390 crore) from existing shareholders — Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm; and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a part of the World Bank group — through a rights issue.
The contribution percentage of the investment is as per Warburg and IFC’s existing shareholding pattern — 80% and 20%, respectively — Avanse said in a statement. Warburg has routed the investment through its affiliate Olive Vine Investment Ltd.
With this investment, the net worth of Avanse Financial stands at Rs 1,450 crore. The equity raised will enable Avanse to strengthen its balance sheet and capital adequacy ratio, the statement added.
“We will utilise this freshly infused capital to reach out to more education aspirants to fulfil their academic dreams. We will continue to focus on taking Avanse to its next phase of the sustained profitable growth journey. The current round of rights issue validates our strong commitment to democratising education and education financing in India,” said Amit Gainda, managing director & CEO, Avanse Financial Services.
The non-bank lender claims to have offered loans to over 2.5 lakh students across 3,000+ institutes and 22,000+ courses in 50+ countries. The firm has also provided growth and working capital to 1,000 educational institutes catering to over 5-6 lakh students.
As of March 31, 2022, the organisations assets under management stood at Rs 4,836 crore, clocking a CAGR of 22% over the last four years.
“The equity infusion by the existing investors will enable Avanse to further leverage its deep domain expertise in the education sector and make credit accessible and affordable for more students to achieve their academic ambitions. Warburg Pincus looks forward to strengthening this relationship and is all set to support the talented management team at Avanse in the next phase of the growth journey,” said Narendra Ostawal, managing director at Warburg Pincus and non-executive director on the Avanse board.
Warburg Pincus had acquired an 80% stake in Avanse Financial Services from Wadhawan Global Capital Ltd and its unit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) in March 2019.
Earlier this year, Avanse Financial also closed its first securitisation transaction of around $48 million. Securitisation is a financial tool for selling a pool of loans to investors, which helps free up capital. The deal was facilitated by debt financier Northern Arc Capital.