Private Equity Deals & Transactions

India's AION Capital buys GE Capital India

The transaction is subject to statutory and regulatory approvals and is expected to close by October 2016.

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India’s AION Capital Partners and former top executives at General Electric Capital Pramod Bhasin and Anil Chawla have bought the financial services businesses of GE Capital India for an undisclosed sum, AION Capital said.

The deal was structured through the firm’s maiden special situations fund AION Fund, a 2014-vintage vehicle which has approximately $825 million in committed capital from ICICI Venture Funds Management and US-based Apollo Global Management.

The acquisition also includes GE Capital India’s auto leasing business, healthcare financing, and corporate lending.

The transaction is subject to statutory and regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the next four to eight months.

The new owners intend to keep GE Capital India’s current management team and to pursue a strategy of stability and growth, a statement said.

Bhasin and Chawla are veterans in financial services in India. Bhasin started GE Capital’s businesses in India and was former president at India’s largest business process outsourcing company Genpact. Chawla used to head the commercial business operations of GE India before launching the local operations of US-based private equity and hedge fund DE Shaw Advisory Services.

Last year, AION invested $90 million in PepsiCo products distributor and manufacturer Varun Beverages. In the past, it had invested in food company Jyoti International, Indian business conglomerate Avantha Holdings and energy provider Mytrah Energy.

GE Capital India was established in 1993 and has provided credit financing to more than 10 million corporate and consumer finance customers in India.

Over the past few years, the US conglomerate GE has been exiting its financial services businesses globally to refocus on its core industrial manufacturing activities. In 2015, KKR, Värde Partners and Deutsche Bank paid $8.2 billion for its consumer and finance business in Australia and New Zealand. The company has also sold its commercial leasing and lending businesses to US bank Wells Fargo for about $32 billion.