Spark Capital (“Spark”) acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the transaction in which India Alternatives partly sold its stake in TransUnion CIBIL to Malaysian Sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad (“Khazanah”).
India Alternatives sold part of its stake in TransUnion CIBIL Limited (“TUCIBIL”) to Khazanah for ~USD 45 Mn (INR 3,400 Mn), striking a blockbuster exit.
India Alternatives invested in TUCIBIL in 2015 and continues to hold a stake based on its strong conviction in the Company and the fast-growing credit market in India. The investment also affirms Khazanah’s continued interest in investing in BFSI and technology in India.
In an investor outreach process that was largely focused on international funds, the transaction saw significant interest and multiple bids from a variety of investors ranging from hedge funds to secondary funds to global asset management companies to sovereign wealth funds, and through the entire black swan event of a Covid-induced physical lockdown being in full effect for a significant duration.
Commenting on the successful completion of the transaction:
Shivani Bhasin Sachdeva, Managing Director and CEO, India Alternatives said, “Rapid digitization, the advent of new technology, and a clear shift in consumer behavior augur well for a steady credit growth in India. TUCIBIL continues to be the preferred bureau for credit information and has been a valuable partner to India Alternatives. It has been a pleasure working with Spark Capital, and we truly value their deep domain knowledge, expert advice and dedicated involvement in every
step of this deal.’’
Skanda Jayaraman, Managing Director & Head – Investment Banking, Spark Capital said, “We thank Shivani Bhasin and the team at India Alternatives for having given us this opportunity. It is an honor to have been their sole advisor on this prestigious transaction. The transaction outcome despite the turbulent times for the credit market, is a testament to the strength of the CIBIL brand and franchise. TUCIBIL’s leadership in credit information and analytics will continue to be the cornerstone for all lenders in a credit starved market. The outcome further reiterates our core strategy of engaging with high quality companies that create and sustain long term shareholder value, despite prevalent market conditions”
With this transaction, Spark maintains its leadership in the fintech domain, having closed its 4th fintech transaction in the last 2 years. Spark also continues to maintain its leadership position in the BFSI space having consummated 44 transactions aggregating to ~USD 2.9 Bn in value across various sub-segments of the BFSI space.