core sector communique

Aditya Birla Finance marks its entry into Microfinance

 

 

Mumbai, June 17, 2010: Aditya Birla Finance (ABF), a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. and the NBFC arm of the Aditya Birla Financial Services Group, announced its entry into the Microfinance business. To begin with, the company has just closed a financing deal with a Hyderabad based MFI that is active in 4 states and has a borrower base of over 100,000 customers.

 

Aditya Birla Finance, formerly known as Birla Global Finance, is one of India’s leading non-banking financial companies (NBFC). Incorporated in 1991, the company is one of the largest players in security based lending and the pioneer in IPO Financing in India. ABF offers specialised solutions in areas of Capital Market and Corporate Finance. The Capital Market Group offers its customers the best opportunity to meet their liquidity requirements by providing finance for investments in the primary market. The Corporate Finance Group deals with SMEs and large corporate clients and aims to provide innovative and customized solutions to meet all their funding needs. Through its financing solutions ABF enables its customers to pursue ambitious growth strategies and execute value-creating transactions

 

Speaking on the above development, Sudhakar Ramasubramanian, Chief Executive Officer – Aditya Birla Finance said that “Microfinance is one of the fastest growing segments in the financial services category with great future prospects and Aditya Birla Finance is looking forward to build a large and healthy portfolio over the next few years. The company is looking to first establish itself in the wholesale business before moving on to providing microfinance to the end consumer. This extension is in line with ABF’s strategy of introducing new product lines to pursue aggressive growth while the focus continues to remain on creating and maximizing value for all our stakeholders.”

 

He further adds, “As Microfinance in India enters the next phase of growth, it is important that large mainstream commercial institutions foray into this space. It promises to be one of the biggest enablers of India’s economic development in the coming years.”

 

About Aditya Birla Financial Services Group (ABFSG)

The Aditya Birla Financial Services Group (ABFSG) has a significant presence across various verticals, including life insurance, insurance broking, mutual funds, private equity, security based lending, factoring, insurance advisory services, wealth management, retail broking and distribution of third party products.

The seven companies representing Aditya Birla Financial Services Group are Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Ltd., Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd., Aditya Birla Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd., Aditya Birla Money Ltd., Aditya Birla Money Mart Ltd, Aditya Birla Finance Ltd. and Birla Insurance Advisory & Broking Services Ltd.

The ABFSG is committed to being a leader and role model in a broad based and integrated financial services business. Its 7 lines of businesses, with over 5.5 million customers manages assets worth USD 18 billion approximately and prides itself for having a talent pool of over 16,000 committed employees. ABFSG has its wings spread across more than 500 cities in India through 1600 branches and over 200,000 channel partners. This allows ABFSG to offer its customers virtually anything other than a savings or current account. With over a billion dollar in revenue, ABFSG is a significant non-bank player and one of the few players who have a top 5 position in both life insurance and mutual funds.

ABFSG is a part of Aditya Birla Nuvo Litd (ABNL), a USD 3 billion conglomerate having leadership position across its manufacturing as well as services sector businesses. ABNL is a part of the Aditya Birla Group, a USD 29 billion Indian business house operating in 25 countries across the globe.