MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s RBL Bank Acquires 10% Equity Stake in Utkarsh Micro Finance

RBL Bank Limited, an institution formerly known as Ratnakar Bank Limited (RBL) that is headquartered in the Indian state of Maharashtra, recently announced its plan to buy a 9.99-percent stake in Utkarsh Micro Finance, a non-banking financial institution based in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The deal, which has received regulatory approval, includes a memorandum of agreement (MoU) to extend the products of RBL Bank, including deposit services, which Utkarsh has not offered previously. The deal has been described by RBL as a “strategic move to reach out to the unbanked and underbanked segments of society.” Utkarsh received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2015 to function as a small finance bank. [1]

As of March 2016, Utkarsh reported total assets of INR 15 billion (USD 230 million), annual return on equity of 15.8 percent and annual return on assets of 3.3 percent. As of 2015, RBL Bank reported total assets worth INR 400 billion (USD 6 billion) and return on equity of 11.2 percent from operations in 200 branches in 16 Indian states.

By Sharanya Madhavan, Research Associate

About Utkarsh Micro Finance

Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Limited is a microfinance institution (MFI) based in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh that was founded in 2009. It aims to provide access to credit to poor people in the northern Indian states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. As of March 2016, Utkarsh reported total assets of INR 15 billion (USD 230 million), annual return on equity of 15.8 percent and annual return on assets of 3.3 percent. The institution does not accept deposits currently, but would offer as it starts functioning as a Small Finance Bank. As of October 2016, RBL Bank has acquired a 9.99-percent equity stake in Utkarsh Micro Finance.

About Ratnakar Bank Limited

RBL Bank Limited (formerly known as Ratnakar Bank Limited) was established as a private sector bank in 1943 and is headquartered in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The bank’s products include deposit services, credit cards, property loans, housing loans, education loans, insurance products and investment services. The bank issued an initial public offering in August 2016. As of 2015, RBL Bank reported total assets of INR 400 billion (USD 6 billion), return on equity of 11.2 percent from operations in 200 branches in 16 Indian states.
Sources and Additional Resources:

[1] RBL Press Release: RBL Bank acquires 9.99% stake in Utkarsh Micro Finance Ltd

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