South Asia
IFC backs Lighthouse’s second India SME fund
Lighthouse Funds has won a commitment of up to $25 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for its latest India-focused vehicle. The GP is targeting a corpus of $125 million for India 2020 Fund II, which will invest in small- and medium-sized...
EMPEA’s Alexander to join Abraaj
Sarah Alexander, CEO of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), has agreed to join The Abraaj Group as a managing director. EMPEA’s executive committee has recommended that Jennifer Choi, currently vice president of industry and external...
SIDBI Venture Capital to exit India's HHV Solar
SIDBI Venture is set to exit HHV Solar following the Indian company's INR220 million ($3.9 million) investment from Swelect Energy Systems, a Chennai-based power electronic and renewable energy firm.
PE-backed InMobi acquires Overlay media
Indian mobile ad network InMobi has acquired Overlay Media, a UK developer of “content aware” computing technologies.
India Awards: Legal Advisor of the Year – AZB & Partners
AZB & Partners saw PE deal flow slip in 2012 Hardeep Sachdeva, a partner with the firm, blames foreign investment policy concerns that he hopes India can now consign to the past.
India Awards: PE Professional of the Year – Sanjay Nayar
As head of KKR India, Sanjay Nayar presides over a private equity operation that is becoming ever more diversified to meet the needs of local entrepreneurs. He shared his market outlook with AVCJ.
India Awards: PE Deal of the Year – CARE Hospitals
Advent International spent four years scouting India’s healthcare market before settling on CARE Hospitals, and the transaction itself was complex. Now operating partners are on the ground supporting expansion.
India Awards: Exit of the Year – Genpact
Genpact has a strong claim as the pioneer of business process outsourcing (BPO) in India, an industry that employs 700,000 people is now worth nearly $11 billion. According to a report by Nasscom and Everest Group, India accounts for more than 35% of...
India Awards: VC Deal of the Year – Flipkart
In India's fiercely competitive e-commerce market, the mantra is eat or be eaten. Flipkart, through a combination of new funding and lateral acquisitions, has placed itself firmly in the former camp.
India Awards: Firm of the Year – ChrysCapital Partners
ChrysCapital overcame a difficult market and the departure of its founder to close Fund VI at $510 million, taking the fundraising and firm of the year awards. Managing Director Gulpreet Kohli gives his perspective
ICICI, Apollo raise $500m distressed fund – report
ICICI Ventures and Apollo Global Management have reportedly raised $325 million to invest in distressed Indian companies. The joint fund, namely AION, will eventually increase its corpus to $500 million.
PE-backed Ramky Enviro plans $200m IPO
Ramky Enviro Engineers, an Indian waste management company backed by Standard Chartered Private Equity and IL&FS Investment Managers, is planning a $200 million IPO to support expansion plans.
Warbug Pincus to exit India’s WNS Global – report
Warburg Pincus is reportedly in talks with The Carlyle Group, KKR and Baring Private Equity Partners India to sell its 29% stake in business process outsourcing (BPO) firm WNS Global.
CanBank Venture backs India’s Vinyas Innovative Technology
Canbank Venture Capital Fund, the PE unit of Canara Bank, has invested INR100 million ($1.8 million) in Mysore-based electronic manufacturing services firm Vinyas Innovative Technologies.
Unitus raises $8m for India seed fund
Unitus Seed Fund (USF) has raised more than $8 million for its seed-stage venture capital fund focused on start-ups serving India's low-income consumers.
SVB provides loan to VC-backed Zoomin
SVB India Finance, a subsidiary of Silicon Valley Bank, has provided INR80 million ($1.5 million) in venture debt funding to Zoomin.com, an online digital photo printing and merchandise company backed by early-stage investors Sherpalo Ventures and First...
Actis launches fourth India-focused fund
Actis Capital is raising its fourth India-focused fund, four years after its predecessor closed at $500 million. The move comes at a difficult time for the Indian fundraising environment, resulting in some GPs dropping out of the market while others take...
India webinar: Relighting the fire
Investor sentiment toward Indian private equity has weakened considerably over the last year. AVCJ, supported by KPMG, hosted a webinar in December at which industry leaders assessed the various challenges
LPs on Asia: The risk factor
Proximity is reassuring. It shouldn't be surprising that a corporate governance scandal in Asia triggers concerns among institutional investors in North America who are far removed from the information flow and first hear the news via newspaper headlines...
India’s Essel Group to launch private equity fund
Essel Group, the Indian conglomerate headed by media mogul Subhash Chandra, has set up a new investment arm - Essel Financial Services - that will target private equity, infrastructure, real estate and financial services.
Rabo targets $250m for second India agribusiness fund
Rabo Equity Advisors is targeting $250 million for its second India agribusiness fund, more than double the $120 million raised for its debut vehicle in 2008. The larger corpus means Rabo’s typical transaction size will increase to $25 million from...
Lafarge in talks with PE to sell part of India business
Lafarge is in talks with private equity and financial firms to sell 20-25% of its India unit for about $300 million. The divestment is part of a wider effort from the French cement maker to divest non-core assets and reduce debt levels to below EUR10...
Blackstone appoints new senior managing director for India real estate
The Blackstone Group has promoted India-based Tuhin Parikh to senior managing director in its real estate division. He was previously a managing director.
Templeton fully divests second emerging markets fund
Franklin Templeton has exited all the investments held in its second emerging markets fund, which was established in 2005 and had a corpus of $132.5 million. The vehicle has generated a net IRR of 34.3% and a money multiple of 2.1x.