Mumbai, August 27,2020 : TPG has been associated with the Shriram Group for over 15 years. It had first invested in the flagship company of the Group, Shriram Transport Finance Company Ltd (STFC). Thereafter, it had invested in other companies of the Group like Shriram City Union Finance Limited (SCUF) and thereafter in Shriram Capital Limited (SCL), which (SCL) is the Promoter of all Financial services businesses in the Group. TPG continues to hold the stake in SCL as on date.
Mr. Puneet Bhatia is Co-Managing Partner and Country Head, India of TPG Capital Asia (TPG). He has been representing TPG on the Boards of the various companies in the Shriram Group. He has been adding lot of value and immensely contributed to the growth of various businesses in the Group, including STFC. He has also been in discussions with the Leadership and Management on various occasions, apart from the meetings of the Board and Committees. It was unfortunate that recently some of the shareholders voted against his continuance as a Director, possibly solely relying on attendance not being very high for the Board meetings. As indicated above, he has had several informal meetings with the Promoters, Management of the Companies, creating synergy and offering valuable insights. These may be difficult to be captured in the statutorily disseminated data to the Shareholders, which only captures the Board and Committee meetings. We, the Promoter, the Management of both SCL & STFC wish to place on record our appreciation of his efforts that have been put in by him for over a decade spanning over 15 years since 2006. He has been a Director of STFC since 2006, when the first investment from TPG flowed into the Shriram Group, till date.
We, at STFC and SCL have requested his consent to act as a Director and be re-inducted into the Board of STFC as a “Nominee” of the Promoter (SCL). The Promoters and the key strategic Partner, Sanlam had backed his candidature in the past and will do so in future also. Mr. Puneet Bhatia has requested some time to consider our request. We plan his formal induction into the Board of STFC at a mutually convenient time, where we expect all the stakeholders to also back him.
Shriram Group Founder, Mr. R. Thyagarajan said, “Mr. Puneet Bhatia has been more a friend and well-wisher of the group for the past 15 years, rather than a Private Equity Investor. He will continue to be associated in the same manner as in the past (with Shriram Group), in the foreseeable future also. Though he is already a Director in SCL, which is the Promoter entity, it is our desire his contribution be formally recognised as a Director also in STFC. We would like him to be re-inducted to the Board of STFC with the full support of all stakeholders”
Mr. Umesh Revankar, MD & CEO, Shriram Transport Finance Company Limited said, Mr. Puneet Bhatia has immensely contributed to the Growth of STFC from a small company in 2006 to a very large NBFC with “Assets under Management” over Rs 1,10,000 Cr and a very profitable enterprise. It is now a leader in the used commercial vehicle segment.
About Shriram Capital Ltd.
Shriram Capital Limited (SCL) is the overarching holding company for the Financial Services and Insurance entities of the Shriram Group, created with the primary objective of optimizing the synergies across the Group’s entities. Established in 1974, Shriram Group is one of the most respected Groups in India with a predominant presence in financial services. Shriram Capital Limited (SCL) is the overarching holding arm of all the financial services entities of the group – which includes various businesses including Truck Financing, Consumer Financing, Life Insurance and General Insurance, Brokerage and Distribution. Shriram Transport Finance Company Limited is the flagship company of the Shriram Group Established in 1979, Shriram Transport, today is one of the largest asset financing NBFCs in the country and a holistic finance provider for the commercial vehicle industry seeking to partner small truck owners for every possible need related to their assets. Based in Mumbai, the Company has a PAN India presence with 1,758 branch offices managing assets over Rs. 111,700 crores and customer base of over 20 lacs consisting of small truck operators. It provides loans primarily for “Used Commercial Vehicles”, “Working capital loan” etc to the needy small road transport operators.
