MUFG-Backed Thai Bank Sells Stake in Consumer Unit to CVC Group

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of Ayudhya Pcl, a Thai lender controlled by Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., is selling part of its microfinance arm to a CVC Capital Partners-led group.

Thailand’s fifth-biggest commercial bank by assets will sell 50 percent of its wholly owned Ngern Tid Lor Co. unit to CVC and Equity Partners Ltd., according to an emailed statement late Monday. It didn’t specify the value of the transaction.

Ngern Tid Lor, whose name means “Money on Wheels,” is among Thai consumer lenders that are seeking to tap growing credit demand in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. The company, which provides credit and insurance to underbanked and self-employed people, has outstanding loans of 25 billion baht ($760 million) and 750 branches, according to the statement.

“We hope to benefit from new technologies, operational best practices and business development opportunities to help us better serve Thailand’s long-tail segment,” Piyasak Ukritnukun, Ngern Tid Lor’s managing director, said in the statement. Bloomberg News reported on Sept. 27 that CVC was pursuing an investment in the company.

--With assistance from Joyce Koh and Cathy Chan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at anguyen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Russell Ward, Jeanette Rodrigues

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