IIFL To Sell Wholesale Lending Portfolio

Fairfax-backed IIFL Finance Ltd, is in talks with global funds including SSG Capital, Apollo Global Management and Cerberus Capital to sell its wholesale lending portfolio. The Rs 4,560-crore exposure to real estate developers constitutes nearly 13% of its total portfolio of Rs 37,951 crore. Talks are at an early stage, but the IIFL group wants to cut down its corporate and real estate lending book. Though IIFL has a larger exposure to the retail sector, the wholesale book, especially construction financing has become a menace, with developers struggling to meet payment schedules because of lacklustre sales. The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the vulnerability of the situation. As of May 25, 58% of its loan book was under moratorium, the company said in a recent presentation. The home loans segment constitutes 33%, business loans 21%, gold 24% and microfinance 9% of the total assets under management.