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Orange Retail Finance raises $5.3M in first listed debt sale, opening $21M NCD programme

What's the deal? Orange Retail Finance IndiaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an RBI-registered non-banking financial company (NBFC), has completed its first listed non-convertible debenture (NCD) issuance of ₹50 crore (about $5.3 million), supported by UMI Capital. The sale is the first tranche of a ₹200 crore listed NCD programme for FY27 and part of a broader ₹300 crore debt fundraising plan for the year.

What's the endgame? The company is shifting from a legacy two-wheeler lending portfolio to a secured retail finance model led by gold loans and MSME loans against property. It targets ₹550 crore in assets under management (AUM) this fiscal year, and aims to scale AUM from ₹410 crore to ₹3,000 crore by FY2031.

Why now? The issuance marks Orange's entry into the listed debt market. "This is the first of several steps to widen our funding base and lower our long-term cost of capital," said chief financial officer Saravanan Kandan.

Where it lends: Orange concentrates disbursements in rural and Tier-2 markets across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana, where many customers are first-time users of formal credit. Women make up 35% of its borrower base, a figure the company intends to double as it scales.

The state of the book: Portfolio quality has improved, with gross NPAs falling from 9.3% in March 2024 to roughly 2.1–2.8% now. Its capital adequacy ratio stands at 34%.

What could go wrong? Orange is rated ICRADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → BBB− (Stable), near the lower end of investment grade, and its growth plan depends on executing a rapid transition into new secured products while lending to underserved, higher-risk borrowers.

The signal: The listed NCD gives Orange a structured pathway to institutional debt capital as it moves away from unsecured two-wheeler loans. "Completing our first listed NCD is an important milestone in Orange's transition to a more diversified, capital markets-linked funding base," said founder and chief executive officer Ebenezer Daniel G.

Read more: mangaloremirror.com

Image credit: Generated with Gemini

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