Piramal Group's investment arm picks 9.85% stake in Annapurna Finance

It has bought the shares from a clutch of existing investors such as , , , , Oikocredit, Oman India Joint Investment Fund, and Women's World Banking.

Sidbi Ventures exitted fully from Annapurna while others took a partial exit, a person familiar with the development said.

“Microfinance as a retail asset class has grown at a CAGR of 32% over the last decade and is expected to continue the high growth trajectory," Kalpesh Kikani, chief executive officer at Piramal Alternatives said.

"Through Piramal Alternatives, we are committed to providing bespoke and value-accretive capital to support Annapurna’s growth aspirations in this promising sector," he said.

Annapurna is one of India’s leading non-banking finance company-microfinance institutions () with assets under management of Rs 9539 crore as of December 31, 2023. The lender is present in 20 states while it has diversified into .

"“The from Piramal Alternatives will provide the necessary ammunition for and help consolidate our leadership position in key markets," said Dibyajyoti Pattanaik, director at Annapurna Finance.

"Credit penetration in microfinance continues to be low and with the right capital and partner, we can script a profitable growth story," he said.

Unitus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Annapurna for this deal.