Spark Capital is pleased to announce the successful closure of a USD 100 Mn equity round in Five Star Business Finance Limited (“Five Star” or the “Company”), through a combination of primary issuance and secondary sale of shares to TPG Capital Asia and existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, a fund managed by Morgan Stanley, and Sequoia Capital. The large equity raise, which is the fifth round of external equity infusion into the Company, is reassertion of the quality of business execution at Five Star and the inherent scalability and profitability potential of the business model.

Spark Capital acted as exclusive financial advisor to the Company for the transaction.

With this deal, Spark Capital continues to maintain its leadership position in the BFSI space having consummated 31 transactions aggregating to ~USD 1.8 Bn in value across various BFSI sub-segments.

D. Lakshmipathy, Chairman and Managing Director, Five Star remarked, “In TPG we’ve found a partner that is fundamentally aligned with our mission to empower India’s under-banked segment. The firm has a long track record of partnering with financial services companies like us that are providing risk-focused, market-specific tools to help businesses grow.”

We are proud to be a part of two successive equity raises at Five Star and wish them the very best in the years to come.

About Five Star:

Five Star, founded in 1984, provides small business loans and small housing loans to under-banked customers. The Company is one of the fastest growing NBFCs in the country today, having grown their loan book 12x over the last four years to ~ INR 1,220 crores. Five Star operates across 6 states through a network of 150+ branches and services ~40,000 customers. The funds raised will help the Company invest in building scale and expand its reach during the coming years. More information on Five Star can be found at www.fivestargroup.in

About Spark Capital:

Spark Capital is among India’s leading investment banks, providing a full suite of services encompassing Investment Banking, Institutional Equities, Wealth Management and Structured Finance & Debt Syndication. Spark Capital’s Investment Banking business has successfully consummated deals with a total transaction value of close to USD 6 Bn since inception; Spark Capital ’s Institutional Equities division covers over 200 stocks under research and enjoys empanelment with over 200 institutional clients across FIIs, DIIs and Family offices. Spark Capital is headquartered in Chennai and has offices in Bengaluru and Mumbai. Further information is available at www.sparkcapital.in