Private equity investor Partners Group on Tuesday announced it has sold its remaining stake in Aavas Financiers, a Jaipur-based affordable housing finance company, to CVC Capital Partners.
The transaction marks a complete exit for Partners Group from Aavas, according to a press statement.
Partners Group first invested in Aavas in 2016, aiming to establish the first private equity-controlled housing finance company in India. Aavas was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in 2018. Since the IPO, Partners Group has gradually reduced its shareholding, culminating in this final divestment.
“Aavas has demonstrated industry-leading asset quality combined with strong growth in the large affordable housing finance market in India. We are proud to have built an institution with a long-term mindset, which is creating a real impact on the ground by helping customers achieve their aspirations,” said Manas Tandon, Partner, Head Private Equity Goods & Products, Partners Group.
During its holding period, Partners Group steered strategy and implemented several value creation initiatives at Aavas, including strengthening the management team, adding new products, digitalising operations to lower processing times, improving customer experiences, and accelerating branch openings, the statement said.
Founded in 2011, Aavas primarily focuses on unbanked and informal income segments of home buyers in India, with an average of around $11,000 per loan account. Aavas provides home loans, home construction loans, loans against properties, home improvement loans, and business loans to low- and middle-income salaried and self-employed customers in underserved and underreached markets in India.
The company operates from 397 branches across 14 states and union territories.
“The journey with Aavas represents a textbook example of transformational value creation in the Indian financial services sector. Despite navigating multiple challenges, Partners Group’s ownership has helped position Aavas as a market leader in affordable housing finance. This successful exit not only delivers attractive returns but also demonstrates the ability of Partners Group-backed firms to build sustainable businesses that create meaningful impact to stakeholders,” said Sandeep Tandon, chairperson, Aavas.
Since 2016, Aavas has seen its assets under management increase over 12x to more than Rs 20,400 crore. Additionally, the company’s net income has risen around 18x to Rs 570 crore.
Meanwhile, Partners Group is one of the largest firms in the global private markets industry, with over $150 billion in overall assets under management globally. The firm has investment programmes spanning private equity, private credit, infrastructure, real estate, and royalties.
