DSB Law Group's Dinesh Gupta and CA Kanika Gupta, CEO, play pivotal strategic roles as Shivalik SFB advances its most significant inorganic expansion to date, targeting India's fast-growing affordable housing segment.
Shivalik Small Finance Bank is in the final stages of acquiring Delhi-based ManiBhavnam Home Finance in a landmark transaction valued at approximately ₹109 crore — a deal that has drawn on the combined expertise of Dinesh Gupta, Senior Partner at DSB Law Group, and CA Kanika Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of the firm, who together have been strategically involved in structuring and advising on the acquisition from its earliest stages.
The transaction, which involves a combination of share swaps and cash consideration, has already secured approval from the Reserve Bank of India. The bank is now awaiting clearance from the Registrar of Companies — the final procedural milestone before the deal can be formally consummated. Once closed, the acquisition will materially bolster Shivalik's secured lending book and extend its geographic footprint across North India.
The advisory mandate at DSB Law Group was structured to reflect the transaction's complexity. Dinesh Gupta led the regulatory architecture — spanning due diligence on ManiBhavnam's NBFC compliance standing, structuring the inter-entity consideration mechanism, and ensuring alignment with RBI's guidelines on acquisition of non-banking financial companies by small finance banks. CA Kanika Gupta, in her capacity as CEO, oversaw the financial advisory dimension: portfolio valuation, capital adequacy assessment, and integration feasibility — bringing executive authority to each stage of the deal's progression.
For Shivalik, the strategic rationale is clear. The affordable housing finance market in India is projected to compound at nearly 20% annually through 2030. ManiBhavnam, with a loan book of approximately ₹300 crore concentrated in North India, provides an immediate and tested platform in that segment. The bank's total loan book stood at ₹3,659 crore as of December 2025, with housing loans contributing ₹370 crore — a figure set to nearly double once ManiBhavnam's portfolio is consolidated.
Shivalik's balance sheet strength further underpins the acquisition's credibility. Backed by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and investors including Accel, Lightspeed, Quona Capital, and Sorin Investments, the bank raised ₹100 crore in fresh capital in August 2025, with inorganic expansion being a key pillar of deployment. Nearly 90% of its portfolio is secured against property, gold, or agricultural commodities — consistent with ManiBhavnam's own risk profile.
For DSB Law Group, this engagement represents the firm's expanding advisory footprint in NBFC regulatory matters, acquisition structuring, and banking compliance — areas built over six decades since the firm's founding in 1965, now led with renewed strategic vision under CA Kanika Gupta's executive leadership.