Bank of America is betting nearly $2 billion that India’s consumer lending market is worth showing up for. The US banking giant announced it will acquire up to a 49.9% stake in Jio Credit Limited, a non-banking financial company (NBFC) under Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Financial Services umbrella, in a deal valued at up to 18,268 crore rupees, or roughly $1.9 billion.
The transaction won’t happen all at once. BofA will start by picking up a 26.5% stake in JCL, with the option to ratchet that up to 49.9% through warrant exercises down the road. The full expansion is contingent on regulatory approvals, which in India’s financial sector can be a process unto themselves.
How the deal is structured
The joint venture will feature equal board representation from both BofA and Jio Financial Services Limited (JFSL).
JCL isn’t starting from zero, either. As of March 31, 2025, the company’s assets under management stood at 10,094 crore rupees. And JFSL apparently wanted to fatten up the operation before inviting its American partner to the table: the parent company injected approximately 2,000 crore rupees into JCL earlier in August, just days before the BofA announcement.
