| | MAY 20238The country's largest education loan provider, HDFC Credila Financial Services, is up for sale. Before merging with HDFC Bank, HDFC has decided to sell its student loan subsidiary and hired an investment banker to handle the stake sale. According to sources, the company will be valued at Rs.10,000 crore, or roughly four times its net worth.HDFC is in the process of merging with HDFC Bank, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has instructed HDFC to sell or merge Credila with either HDFC or HDFC Bank prior to the consolidation. Both merging entities are focused on integrating their home finance businesses and are unwilling to take on any additional consolidation.Credila is India's largest education-focused NBFC, specialising in providing education loans to students studying in India and abroad. It has provided loans to 1.2 lakh customers since its inception in 2006.HDFC Credila's gross loan assets were Rs 15,298 crore in FY23, a 73 percent increase from FY22 levels, with a profit after tax of Rs.276 crore and a net interest margin of four percent. It had a net worth of Rs.2,435 crore at the end of FY23.When HDFC bought Credila from brothers Anil and Ajay Bohora, its education loan assets were worth around Rs 10,000 crore. The Bohora brothers founded the company after having difficulty obtaining a bank loan for their own education. In 2007, DSP Merrill Lynch invested 40 percent of its equity in Credila, and HDFC bought out DSP Merrill Lynch's stake in Credila in 2009.The Bohora brothers sold their 9.1 percent stake in HDFC Credila to HDFC in December 2019 for Rs.395 crore ($56 million), valuing the company at $614 million (Rs.4,331 crore) Jean Touboul has been appointed as Pernod Ricard India's new managing director, effective May 1st, 2023. Touboul previously served as the managing director of Pernod Ricard South-East Asia, based in Singapore. He will continue to report to Philippe Guettat, Chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard Asia, and will be a member of the Executive Committee of Pernod Ricard Asia."What I am most excited about in my new role is driving our many strategic priorities and the vast opportunities in India, which is a culturally diverse market." "We have made significant progress in this market by establishing sustainable, industry-first operations that are consistent with our focus on innovation and transformation", Touboul said.Paul-Robert Bouhier, Pernod Ricard's managing director for India, resigned recently after taking the position in January of this year.The distiller, which sells Royal Salute, Glenlivet, and Absolut, considers India to be one of three 'must-win' markets in the world, along with the United States and China. The country has a growing middle class of about 150 million people who can afford premium-and-above beverages, and nearly 17 million people will be added each year for the next three to five years as they reach the legal drinking age.Last week, the world's second largest spirits company announced that it will have to renew its licence in the coming months after the Delhi government rejected its application. The move came after the company was named by investigating agencies in a case of alleged corruption and cartelization linked to Delhi's now-cancelled excise policy. HDFC TO SELL ITS STUDENT LOAN SUBSIDIARY CREDILA AS PER TERMS PROPOSED BY RBI FOR MERGERJEAN TOUBOUL NAMED AS PERNOD RICARD INDIA'S NEW MDIN FOCUSIN FOCUS
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