A consortium led by private equity firm Olympus Capital Asia (OCA) has acquired a 25% stake in the country's leading microfinance lender Thai Credit Retail Bank (TCRB).
OCA bought the stake from Northstar Group affiliate Polaris Capital, the bank said in a statement without revealing the deal value.
After the transaction, Thai Life Insurance Group remains the bank's largest shareholder, while OCA's representatives will join the bank's board of directors.
Granted a retail banking licence in 2006, TCRB operates in microfinance and micro-SME loans, providing financial services to small businesses, wet market vendors, small traders, stall owners and other self-employed individuals who have had limited access to bank loans.
The small bank has focused on two lower-income customer segments, the micro- and nanofinance client base. Microfinance credit lines average 2-3 million baht per borrower, while nanofinance is 50,000-60,000 baht per borrower.
The bank's total loans amount to US$1.5 billion (46.3 billion baht).
Thai Credit plans to launch e-wallet services in the second half, with more digital products in the pipeline.
OCA is a regional mid-market private investment firm that has invested across Asia for over 20 years. Throughout OCA's history, investments in the financial services sector, including microfinance and small and medium-size enterprise (SME) lending, have comprised one-third of the firm's invested capital.
"We believe there are significant opportunities for the bank to strengthen its market position, especially through expansion of product offerings, rapid digitisation and use of data and analytics to improve customer experience as well as streamline processes and systems," said Daniel Mintz, managing director of OCA.
"We believe Thai Credit is well-positioned with its specialised distribution channel and deep customer database to forge partnerships with technology innovators and providers of other products relevant to its customers."
Roy Agustinus Gunara, managing director at TCRB, said given OCA's experience in microfinance and financial services, there are multiple areas where the bank can work with the new investor to strengthen business, especially in digitisation initiatives.
Southeast Asian private equity firm Northstar Group's departure is to comply with its investment condition that requires it to exit the bank after seven years of investment, he said.
