Kedaara targets up to $1.5b for fourth India fund
Kedaara Capital is looking to raise up to USD 1.5bn for its fourth India middle-market fund, having edged past the USD 1bn mark in the previous vintage.
The data room for the fund has been launched and the firm has given an indicative target of USD 1.1bn to USD 1.5bn, according to two sources familiar with the situation. One of the sources added that the formal fundraising process would not begin until January.
A third source confirmed that USD 1.5bn represents the upper end of the range. Kedaara declined to comment on fundraising.
Leading Indian GPs continue to scale up their fund sizes despite the challenging fundraising environment in Asia and globally. ChrysCapital Partners closed its ninth fund at the institutional hard cap of USD 1.25bn at the end of last year, with the GP commitment taking the overall corpus to USD 1.4bn. The firm raised USD 867m for Fund VIII.
Multiples Alternate Asset Management reached a first close of USD 640m on its fourth fund in May, and the manager is pursuing a final close of USD 1bn. Multiples raised USD 685m for its previous fund in 2021, short of the USD 750m target.
Asia-wide fundraising is USD 41.5bn for 2023 to date, excluding renminbi-denominated vehicles, according to AVCJ Research. The 12-month totals for the prior three years were around USD 100bn. It is 10 years since fundraising came in below USD 50bn. India-focused GPs have raised USD 5.4bn so far this year. The 12-month totals for 2022 and 2021 were USD 9bn and USD 7.1bn.
Kedaara was established by Manish Kejriwal, formerly of McKinsey & Company and Temasek Holdings, and General Atlantic alumni Sunish Sharma and Nishant Sharma. The firm raised USD 540m for Fund I in 2013 and USD 795m for Fund II in 2017. Fund III closed on USD 1.08bn in 2021, exceeding the USD 1bn hard cap.
Kedaara generally prefers control deals, but its two most recent investments involved significant minority stakes. In September, it committed an undisclosed sum to education technology business K12 Techno Services, facilitating a partial exit for Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India). This followed a USD 229m investment in B2B financial data analysis platform Perfois.
The firm has also been active in healthcare, buying a controlling stake in medico-aesthetic dermatology services provider Oliva Skin & Hair Clinic in March. In addition, last year, it backed fertility treatment business Oasis Fertility and – alongside General Atlantic – pumped USD 188m into optometry chain ASG Eye Hospital.
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