DMI, Aditya Birla Finance in race to scoop up ZestMoney in firesale

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

DMI Finance and Aditya Birla Finance are trying to scoop up fintech lending startup ZestMoney in a firesale, two people in the know of the matter told ET.

The talks are still going on but the deal could get signed soon, they added.

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The beleaguered startup, which was offering buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) loans to customers at ecommerce and offline checkout points, had around December 5 informed its employees about its plans to shut down by the end of this month. ET wrote on December 7 the company shut down mostly after its lending partners withdrew debt lines to the startup.

And now, its existing investors have decided to sell off the remaining assets the company has.

Also read | ZestMoney founders leaving troubled fintech firm post PhonePe deal collapse

Both Aditya Birla Finance and DMI Finance have been partners of ZestMoney and ET understands that they have both evaluated the books of the startup.

“The lenders are looking to acquire the technology platform of ZestMoney and also looking to take over the loan book, which the startup had sourced for its partners,” one of the persons cited above said.

ZestMoney currently has an outstanding loan book of around Rs 400 crore, which it has sourced for its lending partners, the person said. The startup mostly operated as a sourcing platform for its partner NBFCs and did not build its own loan book.

Both Aditya Birla Finance and DMI Finance have a strong partnership model with fintech startups and have built a large book around consumer