Mekong Capital-backed Vietnamese financial services firm F88 has secured a loan of $60 million from Lending Ark Asia Secured Private Debt Funds and Lendable, according to a statement.
Lending Ark, the private debt business of Hong Kong-based alternative investment firm CLSA Capital Partners, has contributed a sum of $50 million towards the loan financing.
Prior to F88, Lending Ark provided a $50-million loan to Vietnamese microfinance firm FE Credit in 2018.
Meanwhile, this is the second loan that Lendable has extended to F88, following a $10-million financing earlier this year.
“The slowdown in corporate bond issuances in Vietnam has made it more difficult for many businesses to raise capital. F88’s management recognised this trend early on and has developed its business by using alternative and diversified sources of financing,” the company said.
F88 said it will use the new funding to grow its loan book and develop its distribution network.
The company reported a 246.4% growth in its loan book in the first nine months of 2022 compared to the same period last year. It has also opened 300 new points of sale this year, reaching its target of 800 stores by October 2022.
F88 is targeting to become a public company in 2024, when it expects a $1-billion capitalisation, with a widened network of 1,400 stores.
Founded in 2013 as a pawnshop chain, F88 received its first private equity funding from Vietnam-focused investment firm Mekong Capital in 2017. A year later, F88 secured a new round from Dublin-based investor Granite Oak Advisors. In 2020, the company raised $6 million from its two existing backers.
F88 has expanded from a pawnshop model to become a microfinance business to serve the unbanked and underbanked population in Vietnam, offering services such as loans, insurance, bill payment, deposits and withdrawals and e-wallet money transfer.