Hemant Kanoria (extreme left) with Srei Infrastructure Finance chief mentor Salil K. Gupta (centre) and Bertrand Gousset in Calcutta on Wednesday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta, April 2: Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd today completed the deal with BNP Paribas Lease Group for a 50:50 joint venture in equipment financing business.

The city-based company is already into equipment financing with a disbursement figure of close to Rs 6,000 crore. “With the signing of the shareholders’ agreement, this business will be transferred to a new subsidiary formed in a joint venture with BNP Paribas Lease Group,” said Hemant Kanoria, vice-chairman and managing director, Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd.

Srei Infrastructure and BNP Paribas will hold equal stakes in the joint venture, named Srei Equipment Finance Pvt Ltd. Earlier, BNP Paribas bought a 50 per cent stake in the joint venture at a price of Rs 145 a share with a total investment of Rs 775 crore. “This is the single largest investment by BNP Paribas in this country,” said Bertrand Gousset, managing director, equipment and logistics solution, BNP Paribas Lease Group.

“We are looking at a 40 to 45 per cent growth in equipment finance business,” said Kanoria. According to him, Srei Equipment Finance Ltd will aim at disbursing between Rs 8,500 crore and Rs 9,000 crore in the current financial year. “We may go in for a market borrowing of between Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 3,500 crore in 2008-09,” he added.