India's IL&FS names new CEO for PE unit
IL&FS Investment Managers (IIML), the private equity arm of India's Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS, has appointed Krishna Kumar, previously a senior managing partner, as CEO.
He succeeds Archana Hingorani, who resigned last month, citing personal reasons. IIML noted in a statement that Kumar is one of the founding members of its private equity practice and also co-CEO of the Standard Chartered IL&FS Asia Infrastructure Growth Fund, a $660 million vehicle the firm manages jointly with Standard Chartered. He has been making infrastructure investments for 20 years.
Established in 1989, IIML has more than $3.2 billion under management across private equity, real estate, and infrastructure. It was the first fund manager to establish an infrastructure-focused private equity fund in India with participation from large international investors, and has since raised 12 more funds. IIML is the only publicly traded private equity firm in India.
The firm closed its fourth private equity fund, Tara India Fund IV, in November 2016 at $60 million. The vehicle launched in 2011 and reported a first close of $40 million in 2015, having revised the target downward from $300 million to $75 million. It pursues investments of $15-30 million in companies with market capitalizations of $50-150 million, chiefly in the manufacturing, retail and logistics sectors.
On the infrastructure front, IIML launched a $500 million fund last year to invest in domestic road and energy projects. It has also moved into debt funding – receiving approval to buy its parent’s infrastructure debt business – and established a transportation infrastructure trust that serves as a holding company for IL&FS’ transportation assets.
IIML recorded revenue of INR1.9 billion for the year ended March 2016, down from INR2.1 billion ($32.5 million) for the previous 12 months. Net profit also dropped over the same period from INR730 million to INR561 million. However, divestments for the year increased from INR11.7 billion to INR14.7 billion.
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