Mandate: Sathapana Microfinance Ltd | Date: 2012 | Country: Cambodia | Type: M&A | Amount in USD: Not Disclosed | Clients: FMO (Dutch Development Bank), Triodos Investment Management
Sale of the client’s stakes, totalling 38%, to Maruhan Japan Bank following a competitive auction process. Because of the quality of the purchaser and the price, in the end other shareholders joined the sale and 95% of the equity in Sathapana was acquired by Maruhan. This responsible exit allows Sathapana to benefit from ownership by a strong commercial banking entity with a significant and growing regional presence.
From an August 2014 interview with Dr Bun Mony, CEO of Sathapana, on the benefits of the Maruhan tie-up:
How has Maruhan helped Sathapana achieve its business goals?
For the most part, Maruhan’s role has been to provide the capital needed to expand our services. In 2012, we had outstanding loans of $121 million, with total assets valued at $150 million and deposits of only $66 million.Maruhan Japan Bank is not involved in our day-to-day operations, because of the trust it has in our business model and goals. But every quarter, we have a meeting of the governing board, on which many from the Japanese bank serve. They hear the follow up to all our operations and we discuss how best to the implement our business ideas.
Since the buy-out, how much as Sathapan grown?
Our partnership is now more than a year and a half old, and in that time, Sathapana has grown remarkably. We now have outstanding loans valued at $229 million, an increase of 89 per cent; total assets of $279 million, an 86 per cent increase; and deposits of $129 million, a jump of 93 per cent.Maruhan Japan Bank is putting an extensive trust in developing microfinance through Sathapana, and provides financial support such as direct capital, secondary capital and simple loans, which make our institution able to perform its role in providing financial services for Cambodian people better than before and allows us to better compete successfully in Cambodia.