Khaitan & Co advised Svatantra Microfin Private Limited on its proposed buyout of the entire shareholding of Navi Finserv Limited and Navi Technologies Limited in Chaitanya India Fin Credit Private Limited. Svantantra Microfin is a non-banking financial company-microfinance institution (NBFC-MFI) founded by Ananya Birla and Chaitanya India Fin Credit is an NBFC-MFI owned and controlled by Sachin Bansal’s Navi Group. The proposed buyout is one of the biggest deals in India’s microfinance industry and its completion is subject to receipt of the RBI’s approval and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the proposed buyout, Svatantra Microfin is expected to become India’s second largest NBFC-MFI with a reach of more than 3.6 million active customers through 1517 branches across 20 states in India and a combined AUM (assets under management) of INR 12,409 crore as on 31 March 2023.

The deal team was led by Saswat Subasit (Partner) and Vidushi Gupta (Partner) and included Pritali Patil (Senior Associate)

The deal team was assisted by the following:

Transaction documentation and due diligence: Ravali Rayaprolu (Senior Associate) and Sheldon Dsouza (Senior Associate)

Regulatory due diligence: Siddharth Srivastava (Partner), Mohit Kishore (Counsel), Shobhit Batta (Senior Associate), Abhilash Kumar (Senior Associate), and Yash Patel (Associate)

Corporate due diligence: Shivani Devpura (Senior Associate), Ankur Kumar (Associate), Shriya Amol Kamat (Associate), Shalibhadra Daga (Associate), and Alankrita Singh (Associate)

Employment due diligence: Deepak Kumar (Partner), Abhisek Choudhury (Principal Associate), Ransher Singh (Associate), and Mayank A Jain (Associate)

Antitrust/competition analysis: Anisha Chand (Partner) and Nilav Banerjee (Associate)

Khaitan & Co acted as the legal counsel to Svatantra Microfin Private Limited and advised it on the bid process for the proposed buyout, the legal due diligence exercise with respect to Chaitanya India Fin Credit, and drafting, negotiation and finalisation of the definitive agreements relating to the proposed buyout and will continue to advise it on the RBI approval process and other matters relating to completion of the proposed buyout.