Multiples targets $920m for third India fund

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which invested $25 million in the fund’s $690 million predecessor, has proposed a commitment of up to $20 million. IFC Asset Management, which deploys capital raised from third parties, is also considering an investment of up to $50 million in Multiples Private Equity Fund III.

Multiples will invest in equity and equity-linked instruments of middle-market Indian companies across a range of sectors including consumer, financial services, healthcare, IT services, logistics, and agriculture. The fund, which launched last year, would be one of the largest private equity vehicles ever raised by an Indian GP. According to AVCJ Research, only three funds managed solely by domestic firms have surpassed $900 million.

Two of these occurred before the global financial crisis: ChrysCapital closed its fifth fund in 2007 with $1.25 billion in commitments but later returned $290 million to investors due to a lack of investment opportunities; and PremjiInvest, the family office of Wipro Group chairman Azim Premji, closed a $1 billion fund in 2006. The exception is Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors’ second stressed asset fund, which closed at INR92 billion earlier this year.

Multiples was founded in 2009 by Renuka Ramnath, formerly CEO of ICICI Venture, and raised $450 million for its debut fund in 2011. The firm primarily makes growth capital investments with a view to helping companies scale into national or regional leaders. It sees India’s lower-tier cities as a growing opportunity due to the relative lack of brands marketing to the aspirational and increasingly affluent middle-class consumers in these areas.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Fundraising
• GPs
• Growth
• India
• Multiples Alternative Asset Management
• IFC
• Growth capital