The Competition Commission of India has approved the proposed acquisition of shareholding in Vastu Housing Finance Corporation Limited, APAC Financial Services Limited, and Quantiphi, Inc by Multiples Plenty Private Equity GIFT Fund.

The proposed combination envisages the acquisition by Multiples Plenty Private Equity GIFT Fund (Multiples GIFT Fund/Acquirer) of certain shareholding in: (i) Vastu Housing Finance Corporation Limited (Vastu) currently held by Plenty Private Equity Fund I Limited (Plenty), Multiples Private Equity Fund II LLP (Multiples Fund II), and Plenty CI Fund I Limited (Plenty CI); (ii) APAC Financial Services Limited (APAC) currently held by Plenty and Multiples Fund II; and (iii) Quantiphi, Inc (Quantiphi) currently held by Plenty and Multiples Fund II.

Multiples GIFT Fund is a newly incorporated trust, formed under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 and registered with International Financial Services Centres Authority as a Restricted Scheme. It is managed by Multiples Asset Management IFSC LLP, a limited liability partnership incorporated under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008. Plenty, Multiples Fund II, and Plenty CI, and the Acquirer are all funds belonging to the Multiples Group.

Vastu is a housing finance company, and is engaged in the provisions of retail loans, namely, home loans and loans to small and medium enterprises (MSME). Vastu is also present in the segments of provision of auto loans and loans against property through its wholly owned subsidiary, Vastu Finserve India Private Limited.

APAC is a Nonbanking Financial Company – Middle Layer registered with the Reserve Bank of India since February 2018. APAC is engaged in the provision of retail loans to MSMEs.

Quantiphi is incorporated in the United States, and is engaged in, inter alia, the provision of various artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions, and data analytics. Quantiphi is present in India through its subsidiary, Quantiphi Analytics Solutions Private Limited.

Detailed order of the Commission will follow.

Merger control approval for private equity acquisition of shareholdings in housing finance, NBFC and AI services firms. The Competition Commission of India approved the proposed acquisition by Multiples Plenty Private Equity GIFT Fund of certain shareholding in Vastu Housing Finance Corporation Limited, APAC Financial Services Limited, and Quantiphi, Inc. The acquirer is a newly formed trust registered as a Restricted Scheme and managed by Multiples Asset Management IFSC LLP; the sellers and the acquirer are funds of the same private equity group. Vastu provides retail home and MSME loans (and related lending via a subsidiary), APAC is an NBFC engaged in MSME retail lending, and Quantiphi supplies AI, machine learning and data analytics services in India through a subsidiary.