BharatPe Completes Acquisition Of Majority Stake in NBFC Trillion Loans

Fintech major BharatPe Group on Tuesday (May 2) said it has completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in Trillion Loans, a non-banking financial company (NBFC) based in Mumbai. The deal was completed in the month of April. 

This acquisition is in line with BharatPe Group’s vision to be at the forefront of addressing the credit gap for millions of businesses and consumers in the country, the company said in a statement. 

Following this, BhartatPe’s advisor to the board Ravindra Pandey, chief financial officer Nalin Negi, and banking vertical head Sabyasachi Senapati have been appointed to the board of Trillion Loans.

Trillion Loans will operate as an independent entity with its own team under the supervision of the board, the statement said. 

The fintech major said that Trillion Loans will explore partnerships with fintech firms and other companies to enable credit across a diverse set of businesses and consumers. It said BharatPe has also infused a substantial amount of investment into Trillion Loans to enable the NBFC to grow its loan book. However, it did not disclose the investment amount.

Founded by Achal Mittal and Gautam Adukia, Trillion Loans provides a range of secured and unsecured loans to SMEs, including small business loans, as well as working capital loans. It also offers a range of products for retail consumers such as auto, gold, and education loans.

As per the Registrar of Companies filings, Trillion Loans reported a profit of INR 74 Lakh in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) while its revenue stood at INR 7 Cr.

Shashvat Nakrani, founder and COO of BharatPe said, “Acquiring controlling stake in Trillion Loans is aligned to the BharatPe Group’s larger purpose and will enable us to facilitate access to capital to a wider set of underserved and unbanked businesses as well as customers.”

“BharatPe will bring in the product and technology capabilities that will further empower Trillion Loans to launch new and path-breaking digital lending products that will cater to a

diverse set of business owners and customers. I believe that there is a huge opportunity for Trillion Loans to further grow and address the close to $380 Bn MSME credit gap as well as meet the diverse consumer credit demand in the country,” he added.

The acquisition of a majority stake in the NBFC will allow BharatPe to strengthen its lending play and bodes well for the fintech startup which has been in the news for the wrong reasons over the last year or so.

BharatPe has been involved in a high-pitched public and legal battle with its former managing director Ashneer Grover. 

BharatPe has also filed a criminal complaint against Grover and his family with the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) on 17 charges, including alleged criminal breach of trust, document fabrication, and embezzlement.

Earlier this year, BhartPe CEO Suhail Sameer stepped down from his role amidst the startup’s mounting losses. BharatPe’s net loss surged 3.4X to INR  5,610.7 Cr in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) from INR 1,619.2 Cr in FY21. Revenue from operations rose 283% to INR 456.8 Cr from INR 119 Cr in FY21.