Brookfield, Piramal Capital look to cash in on buyout opportunities in NBFC

Investors such as Canada’s Brookfield Asset Manage­ment and Mumbai-based Piramal Capital & Housing Finance are looking to buy out stressed assets and portfolios of private equity (PE) funds and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

Sectors such as real estate and NBFCs are going through a bad fund crunch. Brookfield has largely invested in infrastructure and real estate in India. It  is actively looking at buying out three portfolios from NBFCs and PE funds that are up for sale, said a source.
 

“Existing lenders are willing to take a haircut (part-dues writeoff) and borrowers are willing to right-size the debt,” a source said. “It (Brookfield) would like to buy loan books at the right price.” Brookfield did not comment, when asked, on the matter.

Mumbai-based NBFC Altico Capital  is selling a part of its portfolio and is in talks with Piramal, KKR and others, going by media reports. 

KKR was also in talks to acquire majority stake in Aadhar Housing Finance, a unit of Wadhawan Global Capital. Aadhar was eventually acquired by Blackstone for a little over Rs 3,000 crore.

KKR declined to comment on the matter.

Piramal Capital & Housing Finance (PCHF), part of Piramal Enterprises, is also looking at the opportunity and in talks with NBFCs. 

“Market volatility over the past few months has created an opportunity for the stronger, well-run, well-governed NBFCs to participate in quality deals. Several assets and portfolios are available at a discount, as stressed NBFCs and real estate players are willing to take a haircut,” said Khushru Jijina, managing director at PCHF, in a recent investor call.

Jijina said several PE funds were working with Piramal and partnering with it to capitalise on such opportunities. “It could be either a portfolio buyout from an NBFC or buying out a developer.” 

Mumbai-based Dalmia Nisus Finance Investment Managers is looking to buy two real estate PE funds, with total assets under management (AUM) of Rs 850 crore. Dalmia Nisus is promoted by Dalmia Group and by Nisus Finance, a fund manager.

“We will buy two funds with AUM of Rs 450 crore and Rs 400 crore, respectively. It will be a secondary buyout,” said Amit Goenka, managing director at Nisus. “In the current environment, real estate asset management needs skill sets and wherewithal to give exits. Both groups are well capitalised to bring in capital and give exits.”