Bengaluru, 4th August 2010: Bangalore-based Ujjivan Financial Services Private Limited, a microfinance institution (MFI), has raised Rs.45 Crores (USD 10 Mn.) by way of private placement of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCD). Standard Chartered Bank is the sole book runner and lead arranger of the issue.
Mr. Samit Ghosh, Managing Director, Ujjivan said, “This comes at the right time and will help diversify our source of funding and reduce our dependence on bank funding.” Ujjivan is aiming at benefitting from a lower cost of funding and diversified portfolio of debt funding with a greater capital market exposure, indicated Mrs. Sudha Suresh, Chief Financial Officer. The NCD is listed with Bombay Stock Exchange.
Complimenting Ujjivan for their quick response time and closing the transaction successfully, Mr. Joseph Silvanus, Regional Head-Development Organizations for South & South East Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, said, “This is another transaction in line with our philosophy of taking strong microfinance institutions to capital markets. We found a right partner in Ujjivan and successfully accomplished the transaction.”
After the first year of profitable operations in 2009-10, Ujjivan reduced loan interest rates by nearly 2-3% p.a. earlier this month. It is only the second MFI in the country to do so. “We are committed to our social mission and double bottom line, and must share our profitability in servicing the poor”, Mr. Ghosh added. Around 75 per cent of the loans are used for business and the rest are used for varied purposes: housing, education, healthcare and emergencies. Ujjivan operates across India in 18 states with 303 branches serving over 750,000 poor urban customers.
About the Company:
Ujjivan Financial Services Private Ltd. is a pioneer in urban microfinance in India. It started operations in Bangalore in November 2005 under the guidance of Grameen Bank (Bangladesh). Today it serves over 750,000 urban and semi-urban poor customers in 18 states across India through 303 branches and has 3300 employees. In the last 5 years, Ujjivan has disbursed Rs.12000 Million and has a repayment rate of 98.95%. It provides non-financial microfinance plus services through its partner NGO, Parinaam.
For more information, visit
Standard Chartered Bank is India’s largest international bank with 94 branches in 37 cities, a combined customer base of around 2 million retail customers and more than 2,000 corporate and institutional relationships. Key businesses comprise Consumer Banking, including deposits, loans, wealth management, private banking and SME banking; and Wholesale Banking, which includes cash transaction banking, treasury, corporate finance and custody services. For more information, visit
For more information, contact:
Ankur (Toby) Ganguly, Communications Manager, Ujjivan +91.9845.373.818/
Sudha Suresh, Chief Financial Officer, Ujjivan +91.9632.500.431 /
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