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SEAF, a firm that invests in SMEs in emerging markets, is to launch a $75m fund focused on taking stakes in Indian agriculture businesses, according to reports. The SEAF India Agribusiness Fund, which has already raised $35m, is expected to hold its first close by April and its final close by the end of the year. According to reports, the fund will target small and mid-sized firms with revenue of INR300m ($6m) to INR3bn ($60m). […] Global economic downturn has given rise to a new trend in the private equity scene, secondaries, wherein partners in a PE fund are preferring to liquidate their position to another party to meet redemption pressures. “Going forward we will see more secondary deals in the Indian private equity space. Now more such deals are coming to the fore as increased number of partners are looking at liquidating their position to meet prior commitments,” Venture Intelligence CEO Arun Natarajan said. Known as 'Secondary deals' in Private Equity parlance, 'secondaries' refer to a Limited Partner (LP) or the part owner of the fund selling its stake in the fund to another partner or a third party to seek an exit option. […] Weak market sentiment continues to spook private equity funds. Private Equity players invested dramatically lower sums in India in the last three months, as risk aversion continued despite a steep decline in valuation. Private Equity deals have dropped a staggering 87% year on year and 56% sequentially, according to data from Venture Intelligence, a research service focussed on private equity and M & A transaction in the country. Not only has the deal pipeline slowed down, but the size of deals has also reduced. PE firms invested about $526 million across 36 deals during the quarter ended March 09, when compared to $3.9 billion across 133 deals during the same period last year. Sequentially, the previous quarter saw $1.2 billion struck across 63 deals. […] |