Apollo, ICICI Venture near $350m first close on distressed fund

The joint fund was launched last year and will target Indian companies that face special or distressed situations, require restructurings or are spinning off assets. Its investments will also extend to non-performing loans, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The two private equity firms also planned to launch a joint venture non-banking finance company (NBFC) last year to tap India's growing financial services sector. The NBFC would specialize in mezzanine financing and lend money for asset purchases through a combination of debt and equity components.

While there were few funds in India tailor-made for distressed assets, the recent slowdown in GDP growth may open the window for private equity players to invest in struggling companies. In the quarter ended December 2011, the economy expanded by 6.1% year-on-year, its slowest rate in three years.

According to AVCJ Research, private equity and venture capital investment in India amounted $5.3 billion across 124 disclosed transactions since the beginning of the year. This represents an increase of 43% from the same period last year, which saw $3.7 billion invested across 131 deals.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Credit/Special Situations
• Fundraising
• Apollo Global Management
• ICICI Venture Funds Management Company
• Distressed
• Fundraising