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Milestone Capital Advisors, the real estate venture capital fund promoted by Ved Prakash Arya, is planning to launch a private equity fund with a corpus close to Rs 600 crore. The announcement will be made in a few weeks. The PE fund, the first from Milestone's stable, will focus on sectors such as education and infrastructure. “Right now, I am bullish on these two sectors as there is lot of scope for companies to expand and reach a mass base,” said Ved Prakash Arya, managing director, Milestone Capital Advisors. Its fourth real estate fund — Milestone Domestic Fund Part-II — has raised Rs 430 crore and will close shortly. The fund house is proposing to raise Rs 500 crore from this fund. Despite the rough market weather, the fund house's track record and investment strategy have helped in getting investor commitments, Arya said. Realty funds have been finding it difficult to raise funds from high networth individuals (HNIs) and institutions owing to a credit crisis in the US, the impact of which has been felt in India as well. […]
With the economy slowing down Indian players are looking at setting up distressed funds. Edelweiss Alternate Asset Advisors (EAAA), an arm of Edelweiss Capital is looking at launching a $200-million distressed asset fund. Other players, who already have an ARC licence, are also looking at setting up these funds. Till now, only foreign funds have been active players in this market. Siby Antony, executive VP and head-distress investments, EAAA told ET: “We propose to put in a vehicle over the next 6-9 months. We should have everything in place by December. We are not looking at retail NPAs, but SMEs and large corporates. We hope to create value in potentially viable units,” he adds. EAAA is initially looking at $200 million fund which could go up to $400 million depending on investor demand. Edelweiss is in the process of applying to the Reserve Bank of India for an asset reconstruction company (ARC) licence. Mr Antony said initially they would go with a single asset and once ARC is approved, they would go for portfolios. Others, who are in the market to raise funds, include Vision Global which has launched a $200-million fund. […]
Intel Capital, the venture capital unit of Nasdaq-listed Intel Corporation, on Thursday said it will invest US$17 million in three Indian companies and said it is bullish on the country's investment prospects. The three companies identified for investment are online travel portal Yatra.com, event-oriented social network BuzzInTown.com and advertising company Emnet Samsara Media. “We are rapidly investing in opportunities that we find suitable and are excited about investment prospects in the country,” Intel Capital President Arvind Sodhani said. The funding for the said investment would come from the US$250 million Intel Capital India Technology Fund. The fund has already invested US$125 million so far in the country, Sodhani said, adding that apart from investing in technology companies, the fund would also focus on alternate sources of energy. […]
CDC Group, the UK government-backed private equity emerging markets fund of funds investor, has announced that it has made new commitments totaling $185m to six private equity funds focused on investment in India taking its total commitment to over $1 billion. It is expected that these funds will raise a total of over $2.47bn for investment in the region. CDC's latest commitments include $50m to Baring India Private Equity Fund III, $50m to New Silk Route Private Equity Asia Fund, $25m to India Value Fund III, $20m to BTS India Private Equity Fund, $20m to Avigo SME Fund II and another $20m to VentureEast Proactive Fund. A statement from CDC said private equity firms invested $17bn in India in 2007, more than double the amount invested in 2006 of $7.4bn. However, the majority of these deals remain later stage where more mature companies are attracting expansion or pre- IPO financing with a relatively small amount being invested in early stage deals. […]
Donald Trump Jr, whose father built a multibillion dollar fortune in real estate, plans to set up a fund of as much as $1 billion to buy property in India, betting on the nation's growing wealth. “Trump may create the privately held fund with investors including an Indian family,” he said. He didn't give specifics on how he'll raise the money, or when the first investment will be made. Trump would join Deutsche Bank AG and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc in amassing funds to invest in a market that recorded the world's highest growth in millionaires last year, fueling demand for luxury homes. The highest borrowing costs since 2002 have ended India's five-year property boom, curbing valuations of projects and developers. “The real estate market is in a downturn now,” said Ritesh Vohra, director of investments at Mumbai-based Saffron Asset Advisors, which manages more than $400 million in two property funds. “There's some more pain left over the next two years or so, and that could be an opportunity to invest.” […]
LIC Housing Finance, the mortgage arm of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), is set to foray into the venture capital arena and intends to start a Rs 500 crore real estate fund by the end of this financial year. LIC Housing Finance is reportedly scouting for a banking partner for raising capital and will soon approach the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to set up an asset management company. To invest in listed companies, companies usually register with Sebi. “This is an opportune time to enter, considering the demand. We will form a separate asset management company to manage this fund,” a senior LIC Housing Finance executive told Business Standard. Based on the response to the real estate fund, the company will decide on whether it will expand its presence in the venture capital space. […]
Canara Bank, India's second largest public sector bank, is all set for an aggressive play in the venture capital business. The bank has sought the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approval for a venture capital fund. The fund will not be sector specific. The fund will be the largest one (Rs 500 crore) from the bank, which floated a venture capital subsidiary way back in 1989. The VC arm has so far floated four funds, the total corpus of which is Rs 112 crore and has invested in around 80 companies. Senior officials of the bank confirmed that they have sought approvals from the regulatory body, after which they will be hard-selling this product to other government-owned institutions for participation. Allahabad Bank, Corporation Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Vijaya Bank, Andhra Bank and Small Industries Development Bank of India have earlier participated as investors in its earlier fund, the corpus of which was around Rs 60 crore. […]
Providence has emerged as the biggest private equity(PE) investor in the first half of this year in India while ICICI Venture, Sequoia and Citigroup have been the most active firms in terms of number of PE transactions announced. The period, which coincided with the first major prolonged market correction over the last three years, also saw PE activity dipping in volume terms for the first time year-on-year. In all, there were 186 deals worth $7.09 billion during H1 2008 against 195 transactions with a value of $6.77 billion during the first half of last year. Moreover, even as new PE firms set shop in the country, the number of funds striking at least one deal has dropped considerably from 125 funds in H12007 to 90 in H12008, according to data compiled by advisory firm Grant Thornton. Says Grant Thornton, partner, specialist advisory services, CG Srividya, “Last year, the flow of PIPE deals was very strong, but this has come down due to the market crash. Secondly, some large global banks have become more cautious in striking deals, which has affected transaction volume.” […]
After infusing money into real estate projects, Red Fort Capital Advisors is now planning a new infrastructure fund with corpus in excess of $600 million by 2008-end. Red Fort Capital – which manages three active funds under its aegis including an offshore and a domestic fund for Indian real estate market, as well as a hedge fund for listed Indian entities – is already in talks with some of its existing investors for floating the new fund, which would invest in infrastructure projects in the country. It may also rope in new investors to the proposed fund. “The new fund is likely to be over $600 million and will focus on projects such as ports and power, amongst others. In fact, some of our existing investors approached us for a fund in the infrastructure, a sector whose risk profile is very different than the real estate segment. Globally, the returns for infrastructure projects are in teens whereas in India it averages at about 20 per cent,” Mr Subhash Bedi, Director and Partner, Red Fort Capital Advisors, told Business Line. […]
Dutch-based Rabobank on Friday announced the launch of a $100-million private equity fund that would target investment opportunities in food and agri-business sectors in India. This private equity fund — India Agri Business Fund — is an offshore fund based out of Mauritius, said Mr Rajesh Srivastava, Chairman and Managing Director, Rabo Equity Advisors, which will be the investment manager for the fund. Rabobank, which has sponsored the fund, would provide $25 million towards the fund. International Finance Corporation, FMO, a Dutch development bank, and DEG, member of the German KfW Group, will each invest $20 million, with the balance to be tied up with private investors. […]
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