Apollo, ICICI Venture end India special situations partnership

Indian media reports indicate the relationship ended at the beginning of April. ICICI Ventures, the venture arm of Indian lender ICICI Bank, also runs private equity, real estate and infrastructure strategies. Apollo had contributed its expertise in distressed and credit with a four-person team seconded to the joint venture. 

Established in 2011, Aion raised a $825 million special situations fund three years later. It sought to deliver risk-adjusted returns by investing in equity and debt at attractive values and at favorable points in the capital structure. The fund has invested $689 million out of the total corpus so far and posted a negative net IRR as of the end of March, according to Apollo’s latest quarterly report.

Investments include Future Lifestyle Fashions, Indian business process outsourcing player Interglobe Technologies, broadcast technology services provider Planetcast, PepsiCo bottler Varun Beverages and GE Capital’s commercial lending business (now known as Clix Capital). Partners at the firm are also board members at Future Generali Insurance and Future Lifestyle.

Spokespersons of the two companies said AION partners will continue to manage investments from the fund until it is fully divested.

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Utsav Baijal, a senior partner and managing director at Aion, said he expected to see rising opportunities for buyouts in the coming decade. He was speaking at a panel discussion session at the Hong Kong Venture Capital & Private Equity Association’s (HKVCA) Asia Forum.

Back in 2016, ICICI, the parent bank, also held talks with Apollo about launching a separate distressed assets joint venture. Apollo is expected to establish an independent venture focused on credit and special situation opportunities in the country.  

Other firms that have launched special situation funds in India include Kotak Mahindra Group while a number of global investors have teamed up with local partners to target the non-performing loans space. Among them is Bain Capital, which launched the India Resurgent Fund with Piramal Enterprises.

ICICI Venture, founded in 1988, has raised four private equity funds that have cumulatively raised $1.73 billion in committed capital. The private equity team is currently deploying India Advantage IV, a $350 million vehicle raised in 2017. Last year, a settlement of INR53.1 million was agreed with India's securities regulator after individual investors raised allegations of mismanagement of the fund.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• GPs
• Credit/Special Situations
• Credit
• India
• ICICI Venture Funds Management Company
• Special Situations
• Apollo Global Management
• Aion Capital Partners