Non banking finance company and wholly owned subsidiary of L&T Finance Holdings Limited, L&T Finance Ltd, has acquired a 26% stake in social impact focused investment advisory firm, Grameen Capital India. In March, Grameen Capital had raised an undisclosed amount in funding from a group of investors, including Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, the holding firm of Tata Group. They will use this investment for catalyzing lending to social enterprises. The other investors in the firm’s non-banking financial company (NBFC) include Dempo Group chairman Shrinivas Dempo and investment banker Vikram Gandhi. The NBFC, with an equity base of $10 million, will lend directly as well as use its balance sheet to syndicate and create larger debt products.
Grameen Capital India explored the provision of investment advisory services to the impact sector and has facilitated more than $150 million of both equity and debt capital for social enterprises. It has also set up a debt vehicle as a significant complement to its existing services. Grameen Capital came into existence in 2007 as a JV between Grameen Foundation, Citicorp Finance and IFMR Trust. Grameen Foundation, Citicorp Finance, Amit and Arihant Patni are the other shareholders. It is currently led by Royston Braganza as its CEO. Grameen Capital is part of the global Grameen family of companies, the flagship of which is the Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Bank founded by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.
L&T Finance Ltd is headquartered in Mumbai, and has a presence in 24 states in India. Its network of offices has been established to cater to the growing business needs of our diverse customer base, which includes individual retail customers as well as large companies, banks, multinational companies and small and medium-enterprises, and to provide them with satisfactory customer service according to their varying requirements. The L&T Group has always worked actively and consistently in promoting inclusive development, well before it became fashionable.
