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    Former Religare CEO's NBFC raises Rs 1,000 crore from UHNIs

    Synopsis

    “The fund raising will create a great capital base. Some of the large globally recognised high-quality family institutions have backed us,” Nath said.

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    Funds to be used for building an SME-focused business, says founder Shachindra Nath.
    MUMBAI: Chokhani Securities, controlled by former Religare chief executive Shachindra Nath, has raised about Rs 1,000 crore by selling stakes to large private equity firms, ultra high-networth family offices and some long-only institutional investors in a sign of global appetite for Indian financial services businesses.

    Samena Capital, New Quest, EIP Global Fund, which was founded by former JP Morgan executive Sridhar Chitalya, Citigroup and Wells Fargo have invested in Chokhani. Family offices of the erstwhile promoter of Luminous, Rakesh Malhotra, former Standard Chartered ace banker Jaspal Bindra and Aditya Himatsingka of the Himatsingka family also invested in this round of fund raising.

    “The funds will be used for building an SME Focused business for select segments of the SME lending market,” said Nath, founder and managing director at Chokhani Securities. “The fund raising will create a great capital base. Some of the large globally recognised high-quality family institutions have backed us,” Nath said. Financial services witnessed a total investment of $1.3 billion in 2017, nearly doubling from $713 million raised during the same period a year ago, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.

    Some other investors in Chokhani include Manoj D Rajani, the Taparia family office of the erstwhile promoters of Famycare, and Chattishgarh Investment, the investment vehicle of Kamal Sarda of Sarda Energy and Mineral. This capital raise is among the largest ever done by a professional entrepreneur in NBFCs built by local talent. Among the others are those set up by Anshu Jain, Global CEO of Detuche Bank led Incred, and Gunit Chaddha’s APAC. This is the first in the form of a listed NBFC.

    For last two years, Shachindra Nath has been running his own investment firm Poshika through which he has done investments in fintech firms. Poshika acquired control as the new promoter of Chokhani Securities from its erstwhile owners and made an open offer to public shareholders. The deal also involves the merger of the lending business of another NBFC, Asia Pragati Capfin, with Chokhani via an all-stock transaction. The company is currently raising capital through a QIP, which opened on July 10 and is expected to close soon, sources said.


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