Bain’s India lender plans to double portfolio ahead of listing

Tyger Capital Plans to Double Loan Portfolio Ahead of IPO

Tyger Capital Pvt Ltd., the Indian shadow lender Bain Capital bought from the Adani Group, is seeking to double its loan portfolio as it prepares to list on India’s stock exchanges in the next fiscal year.

Tyger plans to grow its loan book to 100 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) across its small business, farm equipment and commercial vehicle sectors, Chief Executive Officer Gaurav Gupta said in an interview in Mumbai last week.

“There is enough opportunity to go below or above the loan sizes we currently make to all the segments, and we will go deeper into each of these segments with the adjacent strategies,” he said.

Bain Capital agreed to buy a majority stake in the lender from billionaire Gautam Adani’s family last July, infusing about 10 billion rupees of fresh capital to enhance its growth plans.

India’s non-bank finance companies, or NBFCs, grew by targeting customers underserved by traditional banks. The sector’s loans grew roughly 17% in the year through March 2024 to 46.6 trillion rupees according to ICRA ratings, the local arm of Moody’s Corp.

Tyger’s growth plans come amid a challenging time for shadow lenders. The Reserve Bank of India has told the financial sector to pull back from unsecured personal lending, and also increased risk weightings for bank loans to shadow lenders. Many are seeking new sources of capital as a result.

That includes offshore bonds, and Tyger could test the market with a $20 million or $30 million sale later in the year, Gupta said.

“Increased regulatory supervision only benefits the sector,” said Gupta. “It ensures we are compliant in form and spirit,” he said, adding that the lender has tweaked its underwriting to account for the increasing number of personal and consumer loans its customers take out.

The lender, which currently has 175 branches in semi-urban and rural areas, plans to open another 50 or 60 outlets and add nearly 700 employees to its current 3,000 staff, he said.