Sanjay Garyali appointed as CEO of Fusion Finance

Fusion Finance is in the midst of Rs 800 crore right issue.

The hunt for a chief executive officer at troubled microfinance lender Fusion Finance have just ended with Sanjay Garyali's appointment as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

According to a company statement, Sanjay Garyali led the Urban Finance business of L&T Finance, where he successfully managed a portfolio worth Rs 40,000 crore, including two-wheeler, consumer loans, and mortgages. "His role involved shaping policies, developing infrastructure, and creating distribution networks for mortgages, as well as optimizing the cost structure of the two-wheeler business to drive profitability.," the statement further added.

Earlier, Moneycontrol reported, citing highly placed sources, that Sanjay Garyali, L&T Finance’s former chief executive of urban finance business, is set to take over from Devesh Sachdev as CEO of Fusion Finance. “Garyali will take charge from Monday next week (March 17),” said a senior banker who didn’t want to be named.

Reckoned as a Kotak Mahindra Bank old timer where he spent over 15 years of his career and headed the housing finance and emerging markets business, Garyali would be tasked with ensuring a turnaround at Fusion Finance. The company has posted loss of Rs 1,060 crore for nine months ended December 2024, as against Rs 373 crore of net profit for the same period in FY24.

The search for a successor was launched in September 2024 when the company announced that it would have to make an additional provisioning of Rs 550 crore in September quarter of FY25. It announced that Sachdev, also promoter of the company holding a little over 5 percent stake, decided to step down from the post to take charge as chairman of the company.

Fusion Finance is in the midst of Rs 800 crore right issue. In the investor call post December quarter results, Sachdev assured that the company is on track to raise Rs 400 crore of fresh capital by end of the fiscal. The company decided to roll out rights issue through partly paid up shares in December last year.