Piramal Fin AUM touches Rs 1 lakh cr acquisitions on radar CEO

Mumbai, Mar 31 (PTI) Piramal Finance's overall assets under management have crossed Rs 1 lakh crore and the non-bank lender is keen to acquire a microfinance institution to power the next stage of growth, a top official has said.
     The company is retaining its target to increase the AUM to Rs 1.5 lakh crore by the end of March 2028, managing director and chief executive Jairam Sridharan said.
     At present, about 55 per cent of the AUM comes from home loans and loans against property, he said, adding that going forward, this share will decrease by about 5 percentage points as the company diversifies lending into newer products.
     Microlending and gold loans have been on its radar as the next areas of growth, he said, adding that it has started to do gold lending as per the target.
     The company has been present in the microfinance segment for the last 18 months, which have witnessed the sector grappling with a host of challenges, Sridharan said, adding that things are normalizing in the sector.
     Amid reports of the company in talks to acquire MFI IIFL Samasta, Sridharan said Piramal is keen to expand the MFI book through acquisition, but it is not close to clinching any particular deal at the moment.
     "We are open to M&A (merger and acquisition), though we are not close to doing any particular deal or transaction right now, if there is a deal worth doing, we'd certainly take a look at it," he said.
     Given the geopolitical events and the challenges faced by the sector, there are favourable factors which will help a deal, Sridharan said added that one must not be too greedy in such aspects.
     Branches, established processes and right people are the driving factors which will push Piramal to do an acquisition in the MFI space.
     It will also be keen to look for an acquisition opportunity in the gold lending space, provided there is a small-sized business available, he added.
     In the next three years, the company is aiming to increase the share of gold and MFI in the overall AUM to up to 10 per cent, he added.
     So far, there has not been any impact of the Middle East conflict on the business and the repayments are also continuing fine, he said, adding that the impact will need to be watched out for in the next quarter.
     Fiscal support, coupled with diligence by the lenders, will help in ensuring that entities in sectors impacted as a result of the war get the necessary relief, he said.
     The company will be going slow on external commercial borrowings given the current environment, Sridharan said, adding that there will be specific pockets where it will explore foreign borrowings.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)