Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Legatum to invest $40 m in Unitus Equity Fund

Exactly a year since it invested $25 million in leading microfinance institution Share Microfin, Legatum on Tuesday, announced a $40-million investment in the second tranche of the Unitus Equity Fund.

Legatum is a Dubai-based private international investment firm, focused on sustainable development.It has made this investment jointly with Omidyar Network, a US-based a philanthropic investment firm, wherein both would invest $20 million each and function as co-anchors of the fund.

The Unitus Equity Fund II would focus on investing in start-up microfinance institutions, organisations based in areas where there are not many MFIs present as of now and also look at MFIs based in urban areas.The fund would also invest in technology companies and other ancillary companies, which provide assistance to MFIs in the form of mobile banking platforms, kiosks, etc.

The fund would focus on the second and third rung of MFIs, which need to build on scale and efficiency, so that operational costs come down and funds could be disbursed at more affordable rates, the official added.

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