Sachin Bansal invests in Altico, IndoStar Cap

Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has invested ₹250 crore each, via debt, in non-banking financial companies (NBFC) Altico Capital India Ltd and IndoStar Capital Finance Ltd, two people familiar with the development said.

The investment was made through BAC Acquisitions Pvt. Ltd, the holding company Bansal started with investment banker Ankit Agarwal, said the first of the two persons, both of whom spoke under condition of anonymity. The deals follow his investment in ride hailing firm Ola.

“The capital raised from Bansal will help these lenders manage their working capital requirements and to leverage their books. The debt was raised through non-convertible debentures,” he added.

IndoStar Capital declined to comment on the development. An email sent to Dhruv Jain, managing director and chief financial officer, Altico, did not elicit any response, while text messages sent to Bansal went unanswered.

The debt investments in non-bank lenders Altico and IndoStar shows that Bansal, who has so far invested from his billion-dollar fortune in technology startups, is now broadbasing his bets.

On 20 February, Mint had reported that Bansal, who made more than $1 billion by selling his 5.5% stake in the e-commerce major during the $16 billion Walmart-Flipkart deal, had made fresh investments in Ola, taking his total commitment to $92 million.

Bansal has committed to invest $100 million in Ola, Mint reported in January.

Mint reported on 21 February that Bansal is planning to diversify his portfolio and double down on the financial services sector and is looking to make a big play in the venture debt space. Over the past few weeks, Bansal has held discussions to invest in at least five technology startups, including some ventures where he has already committed funds as an angel investor, such as medical technology startup SigTuple, the report added.

Bansal’s dual investments in Altico and IndoStar also come at a time when non-bank lenders, including NBFCs and housing finance companies, continue to face a liquidity crisis triggered by a series of defaults at Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), starting in September.

Altico Capital currently lends to mid-income residential projects and commercial real estate sector across Tier-1 cities in India which include Mumbai, NCR, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. It also focuses on providing structured finance solutions to the infrastructure and related sectors. The realty-focused lender is also planning to diversify into health, education and infrastructure among sectors.