Apax exits India's Cholamandalam

Dynasty Acquisition (FDI), an investment vehicle managed by Apax, sold 5.39 million shares on the open market for INR 5.26 billion ($77.3 million). Following the private equity firm's $102 million partial exit last September and a further share sale for INR4.2 billion in December, it has realized more than $248 million from its investment in Cholamandalam.

Apax originally invested in Cholamandalam in 2014, committing INR5 billion for an interest of about 10%. At the time the company already had several PE backers, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), WestBridge Capital, Creador and Multiples Alternative Asset Management. Creador has since exited its stake, claiming a 3.7x return and an IRR of 39% in dollar terms, while Multiples made a partial exit worth INR1.9 billion in 2015.

Cholamandalam, part of the Murugappa Group, provides finance solutions for vehicles, home equity, housing, and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. According to its most recent annual report the company had more than 530 branches nationwide, with over INR320 billion in assets under management. Revenue for the year ended March 2016 came to INR42 billion, up from INR36 billion the previous year, while profit over the same period rose from INR6.6 billion to INR8.7 billion.

Apax pursues late stage growth capital and buyout opportunities globally, primarily in the information technology, media, healthcare, consumer products, retail and business services sectors. The firm closed its latest global fund in December at the hard cap of $9 billion, with about 23% of the capital coming from Asian LPs.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Financials
• Open market
• India
• Exit
• NBFCs
• Apax Partners