Save plans to use the funds to expand loan operations to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and micro borrowers, managing director Ajit Kumar Singh told ET. “A new investor will come on board,” he said.
While several investors had shown interest, talks with three of them are in advanced stages, and two of these are foreign funds.
Singh said one of them has started ground-level investigation from Wednesday. “Now valuation will be important,” he said. Belgium’s Incofin Investment Management and Denmark’s Major Invest are stakeholders in Save, which serves approximately 21 million rural people in more than 8,600 villages in 559 districts of the country.
Apart from working as business correspondent partner for banks, the company has two separate wholly owned subsidiaries – SAVE Financial Services and SAVE Microfinance for lending to MSME and microfinance sectors respectively. It also has a housing loan subsidiary called New Habitat Housing Finance & Development.
The group’s cumulative on-book loan portfolio is around ₹1,100 crore, with the largest microfinance portfolio at ₹900 crore.
Sev’s microfinance business has gained momentum in the last few years. In July 2020, it was just ₹100 crore.
The group started its journey in 2009 as Save Society. began working as business correspondent for State Bank Of India in 2010, three years before it was incorporated as Save Solutions. also works for Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and two Regional Rural Banks as their agents to provide banking services at places where bank branches are not available.
The group also collaborates with banks for co-lending to lower level pyramid borrowers.