Fullerton India Credit Company Ltd (FICC), on Monday, said it has raised ₹2,795 crore ($350 million) through the external commercial borrowing (ECB) route.
The non-banking finance company (NBFC), in a statement, said it raised the loan at a margin of 122 basis points over the SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) for a tenor of 5 years from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) Singapore via the parent route.
“The long tenor of the facility benefits the overall Asset Liability Management of the company.
“The past year has been transformative for the company as it became a consolidated subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), with SMFG acquiring 74.9 per cent stake from Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH). SMFG will eventually acquire 100 per cent stake,” per the FICC statement.
FFH is a wholly-owned independent portfolio company of Singapore-headquartered investment company, Temasek
Shantanu Mitra, MD and CEO, Fullerton India, observed that this funding is fully hedged for foreign currency risks, and it is almost equivalent to the domestic cost of borrowing.
“The current ECB raised will enable us to diversify our funding base and tap offshore markets to fund future growth plans of the company,” he said.
FICC is registered as an NBFC - Investment and Credit Company (NBFC-ICC) with the Reserve Bank of India, and a member of SMBC Group. The NBFC, which started its India operations in 2007, has a pan India presence across 600 towns and 60,000+ villages through 633 branches and 12,500+ employees offering lending products to underserved & unserved retail and small business borrowers, according to the company statement.