Ratnakar Bank (RBL), India's fastest growing scheduled commercial bank, today announced the completion of a Rs 3.28 billion capital infusion as part of its third round of financing in the last three years led by leading global investors like CDC Group Plc and Asia Capital and Advisors.
Existing investors, including International Finance Corporation and Gaja Capital also participated in this round. These new funds will assist the Bank in expanding its branch network in semi-urban and rural areas of India as well as providing a suite of financial products and services to the unbanked sections of society.
Founded in 1943, RBL Bank traditionally concentrated in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa. In 2010, a new management team was brought in to pursue an expansion strategy focusing on financial inclusion, agribusiness financing and lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as increasing the Bank's geographic footprint. Today the Bank has a total business size of over Rs 210 billion and offers its services to over 500,000 customers.
Over the next five years, RBL Bank plans to increase its client base amongst financially excluded groups to 1.3m accounts supported by a robust ICT enabled strategy. The Bank’s investment in state-of-the-art systems and architecture has been one of the main drivers behind its scalability of operations, innovation, client service and expansion of various businesses.
''We are strongly aligned with RBL Bank’s strategy to expand and provide a range of financial services to customer segments that are under-served by the market, and our stable investment approach will complement the company's strong management team as they continue to implement the Bank's growth strategy,'' said Nagarajan, CDC regional director South Asia. ''We view this as a unique opportunity to invest in an institution which has a real prospect of becoming a platform serving a population that CDC wants to reach and fostering financial inclusion, financing of SMEs and agribusiness.''
Francis Andrew Rozario, chairman and CEO of Asia Capital and Advisors said, ''We have been impressed by the track record of the management and staff of RBL Bank which includes their successful transformation to their performance across all segments of the economy; from Commercial to micro enterprises and from Urban to Rural. We are delighted to support and be a part of their journey to making a meaningful impact on the lives of millions throughout India.''
''IFC's repeat investment will assist RBL Bank in expanding innovative financial services to under-served micro, small and medium enterprises, helping increase access to finance,'' said Serge Devieux, IFC director for South Asia. ''Through IFC's support, RBL Bank will be able to scale up its operations and build institutional capacity to grow its various businesses in a sustainable manner.''
