Analjit Singh‘s family office has repaid debts worth ₹5,500-6,000 crore taken from KKR & Co about a decade ago for making investments in property and hospitality ventures, said people aware of the matter.
Singh, promoter of Max India, had obtained the loans to fund fresh investments, aimed at diversifying the family’s pool of assets.
The family office is said to have cleared the final tranche of those loans dating back to 2011. It paid off ₹1,200 crore to lenders last week by utilising funds generated from a 3.2% stake in Max Financial, the people said.
Post the stake sale, the Singh family’s holding in Max Financial halved to 3.2%. Max Financial runs a life insurance business in a joint venture with Axis Bank.
Though the loans were originally obtained from KKR, they were eventually sold down to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
Neither KKR nor InCred, with which it merged its NBFC arm, held any of the debt when the last tranche was cleared. Singh secured the loans by pledging the family’s shares in its listed healthcare and financial businesses. KKR eventually acquired the healthcare business of the Max group when it was merged with Radiant Life Care in which the US private equity firm was the dominant shareholder.
Singh’s family office didn’t respond to ET’s email queries. KKR declined to comment.
The family office is also a shareholder in Max Estates, which houses the group’s real estate business, and Max India that runs Antara Senior Living which builds homes for the aged.
