Centrum entered into a share purchase agreement Friday with a Gaja Capital-backed private limited company to this end. The transfer of the entire stake in Centrum Housing Finance Ltd (CHFL) is expected to be completed in six months’ time.
ET was the first to report this in its edition dated August 8.
Founded in April 2024 by former HDFC executive Satrajit Bhattacharya, Weaver was set up with the intent to enter the affordable housing finance space.
The agreement, while approved by Centrum’s Board, is subject to shareholder, regulatory, and other commercial third-party approvals, the company said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges.
“Our housing finance business has seen sustained profitable growth since inception. We are happy that we have found an ambitious and highly capable platform – Weaver Services, backed by marquee investors like Premji Invest, Lightspeed Ventures, and Gaja Capital, that will drive and significantly scale CHFL’s operations going forward,” Centrum Group executive chairman Jaspal Bindra was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the company.
Weaver Services, earlier this week, raised $170 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed and Premji Invest, while existing investor Gaja Capital also participated. The proceeds will be used to fund this acquisition.
The new platform, incorporated only in October last year, will also acquire another 18.6% stake in the housing finance company from associate companies of the Centrum Group and its employees for another Rs 170 crore, taking the entire deal value to Rs 600 crore, people familiar with the matter said.
Centrum Housing Finance, active in the affordable housing finance space, had about Rs 1,640 crore in assets under management at the end of June. It offers home loans, self-construction loans, home improvement loans, and loans against property.
“We are very humbled that the Centrum Group has entrusted us with an asset they built with a lot of care,” said Satrajit Bhattacharya, founder of Weaver Services.
E&Y was the financial advisor to CHFL, and J Sagar Associates were the legal advisors to the transaction. For Weaver Services, KPMG was the tax advisor, and Khaitan & Co were the legal advisors.