Arohan recently was named amongst India’s Top 25 MFIs by CRISIL
Arohan Microfinance, a Financial Inclusion player headquartered in Kolkata, has issued two new series of non-convertible debentures. The first, worth INR 29.05 Cr, has been issuedto a Luxemborg based investor, and another worth INR 15 Cr has been issued to the Microfinance Initiative for Asia (MIFA) Debt Fund. The MIFA Debt Fund is sponsored by KFW, IFC, the EU and the German Ministry of Economic Development. It is managed by BlueOrchard Finance, the investment advisor. These debentures are Arohan’s second and third series of securities respectively,to be listed on the BSE, and have been rated BBB by CARE. The funds have terms of 4 and 3 years respectively, and will be used to sustain the company’s growth.
Arohan has been looking at alternate sources of financing apart from debt and equity, and will be looking at issuing more debentures in the near future. The company was also part of only 11 Indian entitieswho issued India’s first Collateralized Bond Obligation.
Mr. Manoj Kumar Nambiar, Managing Directorsaid,“We are pleased to announce the issue and are looking forward to our investors’ faith and confidence.The transaction not only confirms the inherent strength of Arohan’s robust operations, excellent growth and diversified funding avenues; but also opensavenues for future debt investments in the Indian microfinance sector.” MrNambiar also sits on the governing board of Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), the Self Regulatory Organisation (SRO) body of the sector.
An Intellecap group company since 2012, Arohan has been selected as amongst the best MFIs by CRISIL. Arohan Financial Services (P) Limited, a reputed NBFC MFI financial inclusion institution, operates in the low income states of West Bengal, Bihar Assam and Jharkhand. Itrecently celebrated a major milestone by crossing 2 lac active.
Arohan has been very innovative in launching various financial products to cater to different market segments and customer needs. Beyond group loans to women, Arohan has pioneered loans to small vendors, small enterprise loans, distribution of micro-pension products and life insurance distribution. In 2010, Arohan was adjudged the ‘MFI of the Year’ and the ‘Most Transparent MFI’ in different prestigious industry events. It has been upgraded to a “BBB” by CARE Ratings and also was rated “A” on the Code of Conduct Assessment (CoCA) done recently by Access-Assist.
