OTPP opens Mumbai office
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) has opened an office in Mumbai, adding India to an Asian footprint that currently includes bases in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The local team will cover multiple asset classes, including public and private equities, infrastructure, real estate, and credit. The expansion comes on the heels of OTPP announcing its first sole-control PE buyout in Asia with the acquisition of a majority stake in India-based Sahyadri Hospitals.
The pension plan wants to have approximately 10 people in Mumbai by year-end, comprising a mix of local hires and transfers from other offices. They will report to Deepak Dara, who has been named senior managing director and head of India. He joined OTPP in 2020 as chief of staff to the CIO, having previously covered principal investment and private equity for Boston Consulting Group.
Dara, who starts his new role in early 2023, will answer to Ben Chan, executive managing director and head of Asia Pacific. “The last 12 months saw a marked growth in our investment activities in India, and I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to further build out our presence, networks and capabilities in the country,” Dara said in a statement.
In addition, OTPP has brought in Keki Mistry, vice chairman and CEO of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) as a senior advisor.
The pension plan’s private equity exposure to India includes LP commitments to funds managed by ChrysCapital Partners and Kedaara Capital, as well as direct minority positions in companies such as VerSe Innovation, operator of local-language news and content aggregation app Dailyhunt and short video platform Josh. The company closed a Series J round in April at a valuation of USD 5bn.
OTPP is also active in the infrastructure and natural resources space through a KKR-established highway investment platform, minority interests in Mahindra Group’s renewable energy business and an investment trust sponsored by the National Highways Authority of India, and an LP commitment to the National Investment & Infrastructure Fund.
“India is an attractive investment destination and will be one of our growth markets over the next 5-10 years. It has a large, growing, and dynamic economy, with openness to foreign capital which makes it a strategically important market for us,” said Jo Taylor, president and CEO of OTPP.
The pension plan had CAD 242.5bn (USD 177.5bn) in assets as of June, of which CAD 57bn was in private capital. Investments in Asia, across all asset classes, amount to CAD 20bn. A Hong Kong office was set up in 2013 and a Singapore base came online in 2020. OTPP has more than 65 employees in the region.
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