N Subbu Subramaniam, former Baring Private Equity Partners co-head who left the firm in August 2009, is set to launch his own private equity firm in India. Subramaniam has been globetrotting ever since his exit from Baring, to chalk out his next career move. The options explored included joining an existing PE firm, bringing a new PE firm in India or launching an entity on his own. Subramaniam, who was not available for comment, had told DNA Money a few weeks ago that the name of his investment entity has been finalised and regulatory approvals were awaited. The new entity in most likelihood will be called M Cap Fund Advisors. Subramaniam is currently in the process of building a management team that will identify target companies for possible investments. “The approach is to become an India focused growth capital provider. The dream is moving towards a (investment) theme and building of team. We want to create the Indian PE firm of choice across stakeholders,” Subramaniam's post read on a professional networking site. […]

Red Fort Capital Advisors Pvt., a real estate private equity fund, plans to invest as much as $1 billion in India’s property market over the next few years to tap demand in the world’s second-fastest growing major economy. The firm has invested $400 million since 2007, mainly in residential projects, and may consider investing in offices, hotels and shopping malls, Managing Director Subhash Bedi said in an interview in Mumbai yesterday. Demand for homes is picking up and Red Fort and its partners have sold 3,000 apartments over the last six months in New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, Bedi said. Red Fort has invested in projects with Parsvnath Developers Ltd. in the New Delhi area, and with closely held Prestige Group in Bangalore, he said. […]

New-generation private sector bank, YES Bank, is likely to raise USD 80 million in the first round of fund-raising for its private equity fund focused on clean technology, a top bank official said. “We will be raising USD 80 million in the first phase. The first closure of the cleantech fund is expected within the next two to three months,” Yes Bank’s COO, Alok Rastogi, told PTI here. The bank is partnering private equity firm Global Environment Fund for the cleantech fund, which is targeting a total corpus of USD 200 million. […]

India-focused private equity firm Nine Rivers Capital has taken a $7m stake in Global AgriSystem Private (GAPL), a New Delhi agribusiness supply chain specialist. The promoters of GAPL also participated in the funding round to strengthen the company’s capital base. GAPL provides procurement, storage, processing and distribution services for the fresh fruits and vegetables sector, currently operates six bases in various parts of the country and has expressed plans to expand its footprint to 20 or more over the next three years. According to the company, the demand for all-season availability of produce is increasing in India in light of the country’s growing wealth and emerging middle class. […]

Aditya Birla Capital Advisors, the private equity (PE) arm of the Aditya Birla Financial Services Group, will close Fund I, its first fund, this month raising about Rs 800 crore. It had earlier announced its first closure at Rs 675 crore by January. The firm had invested Rs 50 crore last month in Anupam Industries Ltd, a Gujarat-based makers of material handling equipment. Aditya Birla Capital is the first PE arm of an Indian corporate group to close the debut fund successfully. Tata Group and Reliance ADA Group, are in the process of raising their debut PE funds. Tata Capital expects to close the fund-raising for its $350-400 million PE fund in the next six months. Reliance Equity Advisors, the PE arm of Reliance ADAG, was expected to close its first Rs 1,500-crore fund last year. […]