Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, on November 30, completed the purchase of 74.9 per cent stake in Fullerton India Credit Company Limited (Fullerton India) from Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH).

With this, Fullerton India has become a consolidated subsidiary of SMFG.

“SMFG will eventually purchase 100 per cent of Fullerton India over a period of time,” said a statement on Wednesday.

As part of the transaction, Fullerton India’s Board will be reconstituted to comprise Nobuyuki Kawabata, Rajeev Veeravalli Kannan, Hong Ping Yeo, Anindo Mukherjee, Shantanu Mitra, Shirish Moreshwar Apte, Milan Robert Shuster and Sudha Pillai, it further said.

Fullerton India’s management team will continue to operate under the leadership of Mitra, Managing Director and CEO, Fullerton India.

“The acquisition gives SMFG access to a pan-India footprint across 25 States, 600 towns and over 58,000 villages through 698 branches,” the statement further said.

Japan’s SMFG had, in July 2021, announced the transaction, which was pegged at about $2 billion according to reports.

“We believe that SMFG’s experience in building high-quality franchises and digital platforms in emerging markets is valuable to the next leg of Fullerton India’s journey. At the same time, FFH will partner with SMFG as a significant minority shareholder and work with SMFG to ensure a smooth and successful transition,” said Hong Ping Yeo, CEO, FFH.

“With the rapid deployment of vaccines and steady decline in Covid infection rates, we are witnessing a strong revival of economic activity in India. There is a steady pick-up in credit demand and healthy loan growth. In addition, portfolio quality is also demonstrating encouraging signs of improvement,” said Shantanu Mitra, Managing Director and CEO, Fullerton India.

“With the support of two reputed multinational houses as shareholders, Fullerton India is well-positioned to further strengthen the franchise and capitalise on the growth in the Indian market,” he further said.