Shriram Automall acquires Augeo to expand beyond auto auctioning

Augeo will be the first organised platform, which will provide complete service to the bankers and other institutions through its online portal 123done.in

In order to strengthen its presence in areas apart from automobile auctioning, Shriram Automall India Ltd (SAMIL), jointly owned by Shriram Transport Finance Company (STFC) and MXC Solutions India Pvt. Ltd (MXC), has acquired Augeo. The company is looking at auctioning over Rs 4,000 crore worth of assets in the initial days through the platform.

At present, banks and other financial institutions are struggling to sell stressed assets to the tune of around Rs 3.55 trillion.

While declining to give any financial details, Sameer Malhotra, Chief Executive Officer at Shriram Automall India Ltd said that at present, one of the biggest challenges for financial instutions, including banks, NBFCs, HFCs, ARCs and others is that they don't have an organised platform or a service provider, which can help in auctioning stressed assets.

SAMIL transacts yearly in around Rs 4,000 crore worth of assets, including used trucks, cars, tractors, buses and other vehicles through its physical and online platforms. Of this, around 4-5 per cent is non-auto business.

"We see equal opportunity besides auto business, but we can't do this through Shriram Automall since it will affect our DNA. SAMIL is very focused automobile based solution provider platform," said Malhotra.

The non-auto business will be expanded through Augeo. While,the start-up has already developed technology and people, SAMIL has good a good network and cordial relations with financial institutions and it makes perfect synergy to cater the banks and other financial institutions.

Malhotra said that Augeo would be the first organised platform or service provider, which will provide complete service to the bankers and other institutions through its online portal 123done.in.

According to reports, apart from IBC, banks are exploring avenues like SARFAESI, DRT or sale to ARCs and nearly 354 liquidation cases worth Rs 3.55 trillion are in various stages.

In January 2018, MXC, the operator of CarTrade.com and Carwale.com websites, bought a strategic stake in SAMIL, a Shriram Group unit that sells used trucks, buses, cars, tractors and other vehicles.

The company has physical auction centres across 85+ cities in the country and provides a platform for selling trucks, buses, cars, tractors and other vehicles. It also provides for the refurbishment of pre-owned vehicles apart from running online truck bazaars and other related services through bids.samil.in and cratradeexchange.com.

At present, MXC holds over 50 per cent in the company, while the remainder is held by BSE-listed STFC, one of the largest NBFCs in the country focused on commercial vehicles.

Backed by investors such as Temasek Holdings, Warburg Pincus and Tiger Global, CarTrade and Carwale are leading online automobile classifieds platforms.