Illinois Municipal re-ups in India’s True North

It brings the pension fund’s investment in the vehicle to $35 million. True North VI was launched in late 2017 with a hard cap of $1.1 billion, which has been revised to $990 million.

The fund has raised $600 million as of its first close last year, including a $50 million commitment from Asian Development Bank and $125 million from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. It is True North’s first fund since rebranding from India Value Fund Advisors in 2017 and is set to be the GP’s largest vehicle to date.

Previously sector-agnostic, True North restructured its investment team into a silo for each sector at the time of rebranding.  It said the change was needed because India’s economy had developed enough depth to provide sufficient investment opportunities in specific sectors. Fund VI will focus on healthcare, financial services, consumer, and IT products and services.

The fund takes either controlling or significant minority stakes in Indian mid-market companies with a view to establishing category leaders. Recent activity includes paying INR5.1 billion ($74 million) for a 51% stake in Max Bupa Health Insurance; the company is a joint venture between multinational insurance giant Bupa Group and Indian conglomerate Max India, which exited its stake to True North.

Illinois Municipal had $40.7 billion of assets under management as of January, 4.5% of which was in alternatives. This compares to $42.5 billion in assets under management with 3.4% in alternatives at the same time last year. The firm is currently targeting an alternatives allocation of 7%, including exposure to private equity, agriculture, timberland, and infrastructure.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Fundraising
• Buyout
• India
• True North