Blackstone, 3 more PE firms circle Axis Finance

Global and domestic private equity firms including Blackstone, Kedaara Capital, Advent International and Warburg Pincus are in talks to acquire 40-100% stake in Axis Finance, the non-banking financial arm of Axis Group, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

- Priyamvada C & Sneha Shah

Binding offers are likely to be placed by the end of September.

“Firms are doing their diligence. The deal contours will be decided post that,” one of the people cited above said.

“The firms are likely to value the company anywhere between $800 million -1 billion,” another person said.

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private lender, has initiated the sale process, as it seeks to comply with proposed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations that require scheduled commercial banks to reduce their stake in subsidiaries, including non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), to 20% or less within two years.