Florintree Advisors to invest Rs 100 cr in Satin Creditcare

By Beena Parmar

  • 07 Dec 2021
Credit: Pixabay

Florintree Advisors, led by former Blackstone India Head Mathew Cyriac, will be investing Rs 100 crore in microfinance firm Satin Creditcare Network Ltd (Satin), the company said in a regulatory disclosure.  

The investment, at Rs 81.25 per share, is part of the microlender's Rs 225 crore fundraising by the preferential allotment of equity shares route. Satin’s board approved the preferential issue on Monday.  

Florintree, an India-focused alternative investment manager, will be the first-time investor in Satin, while the promoter of the microlender, Trishashna Holdings & Investments, which holds 35.4%, will be raising its stake to 37.92% by investing another Rs 100 crore. 

Founded in 2014, Florintree Advisors is a growth-stage private equity firm that invests in technology-backed firms.

Its portfolio includes a recent investment in Freight Tiger, a SaaS-enabled digital freight network, and a 20% stake in IPO-bound Chennai-based defence supplier Data Patterns (India) Private Limited in a secondary transaction in June. Florintree’s most successful exit so far has been from MTAR Technologies Pvt Ltd, which went public in March. 

Its other investments include Allcargo Global Logistics, Gateway Rail, International Tractors, MCX, CMS Infosystems, Gokaldas Exports, insurance broker OneInsure, subway sandwich chain Bread Basket, loan provider CASHe, and fintech startup City Cash, among others. 

Post the fundraising in Satin, Florintree will hold 12.35% stake in the microlender. Meanwhile, total promoter ownership, including Trishashna Holdings’ stake, will increase to 39.98%. 

Preferential issue of up to 2.46 crore fully convertible warrants will be issued to the promoter and Florintree Advisors, the company said.  

A group of non-residents would invest another Rs 25 crore by subscribing to the preferential issue.   These entities - Aarti Agrifeeds LLP, Aadesh Agricare LLP and Trimudra Trade & Holdings Private Limited - will hold 0.77% stake each.

The Gurugram-based firm will seek shareholders' approval for fundraising on 31 December, according to the stock exchange filing.

In May, Satin had raised $5 million (Rs 36.9 crore) in debt from Development Bank of Austria (Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG or OeEB), the Export Credit Agency of Austria.

In 2020, Satin raised $15 million from the bank to expand its portfolio and increase financial inclusion. It has previously secured funding from US-based World Business Capital and Swiss impact investor responsAbility Investments AG. 

Founded in 1998 by the current Chairman and Managing Director HP Singh, Satin is an NBFC licensed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It offers microloans to underserved women in rural, semi-urban and urban areas, besides catering to individual businesses and MSMEs.

For the September quarter, Satin reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 11 crore, after facing a Rs 81 crore loss in the June quarter. It earned Rs 15.5 crore net profit in the September 2020 quarter.

The lender had a consolidated assets under management (AUM) or loan portfolio of Rs 7,381 crore at the end of September, lower from Rs 7,667 crore a year ago. 

  

Its total borrowings stood at Rs 5,920 crore as on September-end 2021.