Adar Poonawalla takes charge as Magma Fincorp Chairman

Mumbai-based non-banking finance company Magma Fincorp Limited on Monday announced the appointment of Adar Poonawalla as the Chairman of the company. Poonawalla is also the CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), the manufacturer of Oxford University-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine in India.

The company has also appointed Abhay Bhutada as the Managing Director. Vijay Deshwal, currently a business head at ICICI Bank, will take charge as CEO at Magma Fincorp from the first week of July. He will also be the Group CEO of Poonawalla Group’s financial services business.

This announcement is part of a series of leadership changes following the Poonawala-controlled Rising Sun Holdings acquiring controlling stake through an equity infusion of Rs 3,456 crore in May 2021.

“These changes reflect the Company’s transition into the next phase of growth and the ongoing commitment to achieving the highest standards of corporate governance. The balance sheet has been strengthened significantly through the equity infusion, with the Tier1 capital adequacy ratio standing at 66.8%, and leverage at 1.3 times as on 15 May 2021,” an official statement said.

The Company has created capital buffers and opted for aggressive write off policies in line with a Bank structure.

It adds, “The Company is going to augment the leadership team with the appointment of highly qualified and experienced professionals from reputed financial institutions for various senior management positions, set to join by Q2 FY22. As the second wave of Covid-19 is subsiding, the new management is expected to drive business acceleration. The rebranding of the Company as a Poonawalla Group firm is underway. The Company’s cost of funds is expected to fall in line with the industry best, along with resultant improvement in credit rating and progress towards resilience under the Poonawalla brand.”