Saw Akme Fintrade popping up in some dealer lists for private-placed NCDs and couldn’t find a proper discussion here. Went through their General Information Document / KID and dropping notes others please add corrections or on-ground colour.
Quick intro (what the doc says)
Akme Fintrade (CIN U67120RJ1996PLC011509) is an NBFC incorporated in 1996, registered out of Udaipur with a corporate office in Mumbai. The GID/KID spells out that they will issue listed, rated, redeemable NCDs by private placement and the document covers offers for up to the authorised borrowing limit (shareholder-authorised borrowings up to ₹900 crore). The usual issuance mechanics are in place trustee is Catalyst Trusteeship, RTA is Bigshare and the rating agency on the file is Acuité.
What the bonds look like (summary from the docs)
Private placement NCDs to be listed on the WDM of NSE
Structure is flexible secured / unsecured, senior / subordinated depending on tranche (details will be in the specific KID for each tranche).
Trustee is named (Catalyst) and the GID references standard security creation, DRR obligations and debenture trustee protections.
Eligible investors are institutional and non-QIB retailish categories (but placement is targeted).
What jumped out to me (first impressions)
The document is fairly standard and comprehensive investor protections like DRR, hypothecation / charge creation, trustee monitoring are called out in detail. Good that trustee & RTA are well-known names.
The company has a fairly long track record (incorporated 1996) which is always a useful sign for retail bond-watchers.
They’ve kept the issuer limits large (up to ₹900 crore authorised), so the funding programme could be sizeable depending on how much of that they run.
Key risks I’d be thinking about before buying any Akme NCDs
Private placement paper can be thin in the secondary market — liquidity risk. The GID itself warns about potential illiquidity. Watch bids on WDM if you care about exit.
Security cover matters a lot and each tranche will differ. The GID says security must be created and maintained; still, when the time comes check the deed of hypothecation / trustee notices for “100% cover” statements.
Rating actions and downgrades will directly affect the trading value and can trigger step-ups read the specific KID for the tranche to see downgrade provisions.
Questions I’m putting out for the thread (would love concrete answers)
Anyone tracking Akme on the ground what is their core lending book today (industry mix, retail vs corporate, geographic focus)? The GID is about bonds, not granular asset-side detail.
Have they issued similar NCDs previously? How was the repayment record and any trustee invocation history?
Do we have the specific KID/term sheet for the live tranche (coupon, tenure, security description, ISIN)? If yes, post the ISIN and the last traded price/YTM.
Any comments on management/governance? The GID lists promoters and compliance contacts would be good to know reputation from market players.
Small practical note for bond-watchers:
When the KID for the tranche is up, look for: (a) exact security wording (first charge? pari passu?), (b) trustee event triggers and top-up mechanics, (c) DRR / escrow / DSRA details, (d) any corporate guarantee or promoter support. These make a big difference in how you size positions.
From whatever I’ve been able to piece together, Akme’s lending book is mostly in the vehicle + MSME bucket, with a strong tilt toward semi-urban Rajasthan/MP markets. They’re not a corporate lender, it’s primarily retail and small-ticket business loans. Historically they were known for used commercial vehicle finance and some small LAP-type products. Over the last few years they’ve added more MSME/working-capital loans as well.
Most of their presence seems to be in Rajasthan, MP and a bit of Gujarat. That’s been their home turf since the 2000s. Haven’t seen much noise about them scaling aggressively outside this belt. So it’s still very much a regional NBFC rather than a pan-India one.
If I were evaluating an Akme NCD, I’d treat it as a medium-risk retail-vehicle+SME NBFC with some known positives (diverse products, rural footprint, decent NPA track record) and some blind spots around stress-testing and liquidity. Use position sizing accordingly, and maybe wait for a few quarters’ updates post-IPO before increasing allocation.
On the management side, Akme is still very much a promoter-driven NBFC, and from whatever is publicly visible, the promoters have been involved for decades. Nirmal Kumar Jain (MD) has been associated with the company for a long time, and the promoter group holds a meaningful stake around 41%, so they do have skin in the game. That’s generally a positive for a smaller NBFC operating in semi-urban markets.
Their background is mostly in vehicle finance and small-business lending, the company has been around since the mid-90s, so they’ve seen a few credit cycles. That experience matters because these are not straightforward salaried-retail loans; underwriting informal income in places like Rajasthan/MP needs local knowledge and long relationships.
On governance, it looks like they’ve built a reasonably standard board with a mix of promoter directors and independent directors. Nothing obviously concerning there based on public records. But one thing to note: part of the promoter holding is pledged. Not a dealbreaker, but always something I watch closely promoter-level leverage can sometimes create pressure during bad cycles.
Since Akme operates largely in rural/semi-urban pockets, a lot of the comfort actually comes from how disciplined management is in collections and how conservative they are with growth. Smaller NBFCs can get into trouble when they chase AUM too aggressively. Hard to judge from outside, but the fact that they’ve stayed in a niche and haven’t overextended into unrelated products is at least directionally positive.
Haven’t heard of any governance blow-ups or trustee escalations linked to them, but given their size, the market doesn’t talk about them as much as the bigger players. If anyone has dealer-level experience or has dealt with their older NCDs, would be useful to hear how responsive the management has been with disclosures and trustee interactions.
Pledged promoter holding basically means the promoters have taken a loan by giving their own shares as collateral. So the promoter shares are “pledged” to a lender. It’s not unusual, but it’s something most investors keep an eye on because it tells you two things:
Promoter-level leverage exists they’ve borrowed money personally or for group entities.
If the share price falls sharply, the lender can ask for more collateral or even sell the pledged shares in the market to recover dues.
For a listed company, heavy pledging is generally a red flag because a sharp fall in the stock can trigger forced selling.
For an NBFC, it’s a bit more sensitive you ideally want promoters who are financially stable, not depending on pledged shares to borrow.
In Akme’s case, the promoter pledge isn’t huge, but it’s still something to track. Pledge increasing quarter after quarter is usually a negative signal; pledge reducing or being released is a positive.
Disc: General view open to correction from anyone who has dealt with pledged-share situations before.
