Warburg Pincus invests Rs 700 crore in Home First Finance, IPO likely by March 2021

Housing finance company Home First Finance Company India Ltd on Friday said it has signed an agreement with Orange Clove Investments BV, an affiliate of US-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus, for an investment of Rs 700 crore. The transaction will be done through a combination of primary fundraise and secondary sales by existing shareholders. With this investment, Warburg Pincus joined the league of existing marquee PE shareholders True North and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Home First Finance Company (HFFC), however, did not disclose the stake acquired by Warburg Pincus, but sources close to the matter believe that it could be around 25 per cent shareholding.

"Warburg Pincus' investment in Home First at this juncture, is an acknowledgement of Home First's inherent strengths. Our strong focus on the salaried customer segment, our investments in technology and our deep belief in digital processes and payment mechanisms, have netted excellent dividends through multiple disruptive events," said Manoj Viswanathan, chief executive officer at HFFC.

HFFC is also planning an initial public offering (IPO) and has filed the draft red herring prospectus with the Sebi in December 2019 for which it received approval in January. The company has got extension from the Sebi to launch its IPO till March 31, 2021 in wake COVID-19 pandemic.

Established in February 2010, HFFC was founded by Jaithirth Rao and PS Jayakumar (MD and CEO of Bank of Baroda). As of 31 March 2020, the company had an AUM of Rs3,618 crore with gross non-performing assets at 0.87 per cent.

By Chitranjan Kumar

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