From being a small financier in Rajasthan to becoming a small finance bank (SFB), this financial institution—AU Small Finance Bank (earlier Au Financiers), has evolved over years. Now, this institution is taking another leap by going for an IPO (initial public offering) and becoming a public entity.
This SFB which received its licence on December 2016, plans to raise over Rs 1, 912 crore via IPO. The lender’s promoters and other investors have offered to sell their shares. The price band of the offer is Rs 355 to Rs 358 per equity share. The offer opens on June 28, 2017 and closes on June 30, 2017. ICICI Securities, HDFC Bank, Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors and Citigroup Global Markets India are the book running lead managers to AU Small Finance Bank’s IPO.
As of March 31, 2017, AU Small Finance Bank has 269 branches. It plans to add 162 branches in FY 2018 and achieve a target of 431 branches by the end of FY 2018. The SFB has most branches in Rajasthan and it hopes to add more branches and touchpoints there. AU Small Finance Bank, Branch Banking Chief, Sumit Madan said, “Productivity in smaller cities is better than larger cities. We plan to add more branches in Maharashtra and Gujarat too.”
The SFB aims to serve low and middle-income individuals and business that have limited access to finance. “We are focussed on our retail side,” added Madan. He strongly believes that there is no dearth for opportunities in India.
AU Small Finance Bank, MD and CEO, Sanjay Agarwal said that after demonetisation, one has realised the opportunity that is available. “There is a lot of opportunity that is available for SFB to grow.” He said that there are many private banks in India that are targeting double digit growth. So one can just imagine the opportunity available for SFB, he added.
AU Small Finance Bank as the only asset financing non-banking finance company that was awarded the licence among the other the applicants by RBI in 2016. The bank started its operations from April 19, 2017.
