Growasia partners for Indian operation
SINGAPORE – Singapore-headquartered Growasia.com Pte. Ltd. announced Wednesday it has entered into an understanding with two leading Indian financial institutions - HDFC Bank Ltd. and ICRA Ltd. - to collaborate in the sub-continent.
Under the terms of the understanding, HDFC Bank and ICRA will each participate in the equity of Growasia’s Indian subsidiary, which will be called Gasia.com Pte.Ltd.
HDFC Bank will assist in Growasia’s business development by promoting the services of Growasia to its existing customer base so as to boost buyer and seller listings.
ICRA will offer its advisory services to Growasia users in India. In addition, ICRA will also contribute its extensive research and information to Growasia’s content base.
"The partnership with HDFC Bank and ICRA fits in very well with Growasia’s regional strategy" said Ian Gibbs, CEO of Growasia.com. "The decision by two of the leading Indian financial institutions to work with Growasia will give us a significant boost in the Indian market and is also an endorsement of our focus and business model."
Growasia provides assistance to Asian SMEs in the buying and selling of corporate assets and businesses.
Designed to facilitate restructuring and growth, Growasia's e-business platform, growasia.com, uses a 5-step approach to match sellers with buyers. Supplementing the platform is a suite of standardized forms and user access to transaction advisory services.
Growasia's main task in India, will be to assist buyers and sellers in India find strategic and financial investors as well as joint venture partners. In addition, the company will also provide access to advisory services to complete transactions.
India's SME market is said to be large. Although local financing networks exist, these need to be supplemented by cross-border investment capital.
Growasia has also appointed a director for sales and marketing in India, Priya Singh Aggarwal, who will be based in Mumbai.