Bank of America has agreed to acquire up to a 49.9% stake in Jio Credit, signalling a strategic expansion into India’s burgeoning credit sector and highlighting the evolving landscape of international partnerships in Indian financial services.
Bank of America has agreed to buy up to a 49.9% stake in Jio Credit, the non-bank lending arm of Jio Financial Services, in a deal valued at about ₹18,268 crore, or $1.92 billion, according to Investing.com. The transaction will begin with a 26.5% holding, with the US lender able to lift that to the agreed ceiling by exercising warrants. At the stated valuation, Jio Credit would be worth roughly $3.8 billion.
The move gives Bank of America a larger foothold in India’s fast-growing credit market and underscores the continuing appeal of lenders in a country where demand for financing remains strong and loan delinquencies have stayed relatively low, according to the report. It also fits with Bank of America’s broader push into private credit, after Bloomberg reported in February that the bank had committed $25 billion of its own capital to private-credit deals.
For Jio Financial Services, the agreement adds a major international partner to a business that has already been expanding its control over affiliated financial assets. The Economic Times reported in June that Jio Financial had completed its purchase of the State Bank of India’s stake in Jio Payments Bank, making that unit a wholly owned subsidiary after regulatory approval. New Indian Express earlier said the buyback was aimed at full ownership of the payments bank.
Jio Payments Bank began operations in 2018 and forms part of Jio Financial’s wider consumer finance push, which has grown out of Reliance Industries’ financial-services arm. The latest deal suggests that global lenders continue to see value in partnering with Indian financial groups as the market deepens and competition for retail and business credit intensifies.
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