The Ahmedabad-based MAS Financial Services Ltd has announced an investment of Rs 40 crore from ICICI Venture’s Mezzanine Fund and said it is in the final stages of receiving $10 million from Dutch development bank FMO.
The company plans to use the proceeds to augment Tier-I and Tier-II capital and fund its technology infrastructure investments, according to a release here.
ICICI Venture’s investment is in the form of redeemable preference shares and warrants and will be classified as Tier-II capital, while FMO has invested through compulsorily convertible preference shares, which will form part of Tier-I capital.
The company is engaged in semi-urban micro-lending besides having significant market presence in two- and three-wheelers and multi-utility vehicle financing for the last one decade.
It is planning to expand its presence in Maharashtra and Rajasthan as well, and has established a rural housing subsidiary, which is expected to commence business from the second quarter of this year.
MAS Financial is the third investment of ICICI Venture’s Mezzanine Fund, the first and only such fund in the country.
ICICI Venture, one of the largest private equity players in the country, has raised the fund to provide mezzanine capital to Indian middle-market companies.
For FMO, the Netherlands-based development bank with an investment portfolio of €3.4 billion, MAS Financial is the fourth investment after micro-finance funds such as Bellwether, Aavishkar Goodwell and LokCapital, the release added.
Source: Business Line