Blackstone to buy about 16% stake in IIFL Finance for $535 mn

Blackstone will invest 50 billion Indian rupees ($535 million) for an approximately 16% stake in India's IIFL Finance, as part of a 64.14 billion rupee capital raise, the non-banking financial company said on Tuesday.

The issue will also include a 12.64 billion rupee investment by existing investors Nirmal Jain and R. Venkataraman, while Anchorage Capital will invest another 1.5 billion rupees.

The investment will raise IIFL Finance's capital adequacy ratio to about 30% from 17%, the company said.

The additional capital will support growth in its secured lending businesses, particularly gold finance, and could help improve its credit ratings and lower borrowing costs over time.