Caledonia Invests in Indian Home Finance Company

RNS Number : 4168E

Caledonia Investments PLC

06 April 2011

 



Caledonia Investments plc

Caledonia invests £20.6m in Deutsche Postbank Home Finance Ltd

The Board of Caledonia Investments plc ("Caledonia") is pleased to announce that the Caledonia group has invested £20.6m in cash to acquire a 13.9% stake in the Indian home finance company, Deutsche Postbank Home Finance Ltd ("DPHFL"). The investment has been made to support the expansion of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd ("DHFL") which, together with its promoter group, has acquired the balance of DPHFL's equity.  Caledonia has been a shareholder in DHFL, which is one of India's leading private sector housing finance companies and is listed on the Indian stock exchanges, since 2005 and currently has a 9.6% shareholding together with board representation.

DPHFL was sold by BHW Holding AG, a 100% subsidiary of Deutsche Postbank AG, and was valued for the purposes of the transaction at Rs. 10,790m (approximately £148m). Following the acquisition, DHFL's combined asset base will exceed Rs. 200,000m (approximately £2.8bn) with an active customer base expected to be over 200,000 strong by the end of its current financial year. 

Following the acquisition, DHFL and its housing finance subsidiaries will, on a consolidated basis, be the third largest private sector home finance business in the Indian marketplace and will be well placed to address each of the many market segments within the Indian mortgage sector.

Commenting on the acquisition, Tony Hambro, who represents Caledonia on the Board of DHFL, said:

 "Caledonia has been an investor in DHFL since March 2005. We have been impressed by its capabilities and the growth platform that DHFL has created. We continue to be keenly interested in the Indian housing finance sector and are happy to be a co-investor alongside DHFL and its promoters, the Wadhawan family, in this transformational deal for DHFL."

Kapil Wadhawan, Chairman and Managing Director of DHFL, stated:

"The acquisition of DPHFL will offer DHFL the perfect opportunity to round out its range of services and strengthen its market position. Caledonia has been a valued long term investor in DHFL and has proven to be an extremely helpful and supportive partner."

6 April 2011

Enquiries

Caledonia Investments plc	College Hill Associates
Tony Hambro	Tony Friend
John May	Roddy Watt
Tel: [phone]	Tel: [phone]

ENDS

Notes for Editors

About Caledonia

Caledonia Investments plc, listed on the London Stock Exchange, is one of the UK's largest investment trusts and is self-managed. Caledonia currently has net assets of approximately £1.2bn and invests in and actively manages, usually with a board position, a focused portfolio of significant stakes in companies and situations where it believes there to be good opportunities for building value over the longer term.  It has paid an increasing annual dividend for 43 years.

For additional information on Caledonia, please visit www.caledonia.com.

About DHFL

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited was founded in 1984 by the late Shri Rajesh Kumar Wadhawan with a vision to provide financial access to the lower and middle income segment of Indian society and has enabled over a million people to realise their dreams of owning a home. Today, DHFL is a leading private sector housing finance company with a strategic tie-up for joint financing of home loans with Punjab & Sindh Bank, Central Bank of India and United Bank of India.

DHFL has over 340 locations across India. As at 30 September 2010, the company had a portfolio of Rs. 111,450m (approximately £1.6bn). DHFL's loan portfolio has registered a compound annual growth of 45% for the last 3 fiscal years.

For additional information on DHFL, please visit www.dhfl.com.

About DPHFL

DPHFL provides financing for the purchase, construction and refurbishment of residential properties as well as well as loans against residential properties. Founded in 1995, DPHFL has over 32,000 customers serviced through its pan-India sales and distribution network of 25 branch offices and 14 sales offices, with a strong coverage of metro and Tier-I towns. As at 30 September 2010, the home loan portfolio of DPHFL stood at Rs. 48,130m (approximately £678m) and the company has registered a compound annual growth in its loan portfolio of 19% for its last three fiscal years.

For additional information on DPHFL, please visit www.deutschepostbank.co.in.

Neither the contents of any of the above websites, nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on any of the above websites (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

 

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