Sachin Bansal eyes microfinance firm CIFCPL to make first fintech acquisition under BACQ

When Sachin Bansal had started his second entrepreneurial gig with Ankit Agarwal, former Bank of America exec, he had made clear his intentions to acquire multiple businesses across agritech and fintech sectors.

Apparently, one of his plans also includes opening a bank, which as per RBI guidelines required him to have significant experience in financial services. Acquisition of fintech firm under his new business BACQ becomes all the more sensible for him if he counts this in a larger picture.

To kill two birds with one stone, Bansal has set his eye on a Bengaluru based microfinance firm Chaitanya India Fin Credit (CIFCPL) run by Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services. He is in the final leg to acquire 75 per cent stake in this firm.

CIFCPL is a 2009 established company that provides joint liability group loans, organises financial literacy campaigns in rural communities across Karnataka, Bihar, and Maharashtra and has provided loans worth Rs 625 crore till now. Founded by Samit Shetty and Anand Rao, the company counts ShoreCap as its lead investor.

The deal when closed will be Flipkart co-founder's first investment in fintech space and in this very first attempt, it is also expected that he might become the CEO of the acquired firm.

When ET asked Bansal about the developments, he refused to comment, but Shetty did mention that he is in talks with multiple investors to raise Rs 150 crore in primary funding while refusing to name any one investor.

Overall, the acquisition deal under the purview of BACQ includes both primary and secondary transactions and is slated to be pegged at around Rs 200 crore. However, it should take about 6 months for things to execute to their final stage due to permission required by RBI for both ownership changed and the onboarding of nominee directors.

Further, it is still unclear the existing investors of CIFCPL would take a complete exit or stay in the acquired firm.

This might be the first fintech acquisition for Bansal, but he has already invested in NBFC firms in the past few months. Indostar Capital and Altico Capital had received Rs 250 crore each as a part of debt financing by the Flipkart fame Bansal.