KKR, Indium, Leapfrog to pump Rs 500 crore in Magma

Non-bank lender Magma Fincorp today said private equity funds KKR, Indium and LeapFrog will invest Rs 500 crore in the company through preferential shares to spur business expansion.

They will be allotted 4.62 crore equity shares at a price of Rs 108, which is an almost 30 per cent premium over Friday's closing price. The stock was trading 13 per cent up at Rs 94.10 a piece on the BSE in the afternoon session.

Indium, an investment vehicle advised by India Value Fund Advisors, will be investing Rs 220 crore, while emerging market investor Leapfrog Investments will infuse Rs 200 crore, the Kolkata-based lender said in a statement.

American private equity KKR, which first invested in the company in 2011, is doing a follow-up investment of Rs 80 crore (rpt) Rs 80 crore, it said, adding that the company board has approved the issue of preference shares.

"Magma will use the new capital to grow its business and capture opportunities created by India?s economic growth and improving financial markets," it said.

The investors come with "long-term strategic capital" which will help the company in the next level of its growth, the company's managing director Sanjay Chamria was quoted as saying.

"We continue to believe that rural and semi-urban financial inclusion will be a key element of this growth and Magma is a unique platform that can actively drive this financial inclusion," KKR's chief executive for India, Sanjay Nayar said.