India Equity Partners Sets Sights on Aggressive Expansion
India Equity Partners (IEP), a $300 million India-focused private equity fund, is poised to significantly amplify its investment capacity. According to plans, the firm aims to raise a substantial corpus of approximately $1 billion in the coming year, earmarked for investments in the Indian market.
Previous Investment Pace and Current Portfolio
Initially, IEP had adopted a cautious approach due to the pricey equity market. The fund, which was raised about a year and a half ago, has already utilized 40% of its capital in strategic investments. Notable names in its portfolio include Bharti Infratel, Mannapuram Group of Companies, and Hyderabad-based port management company Ocean Sparkle ITD.
“We were going slowly earlier as the equity market was pricey,” noted Steven Wisch, the US-based Managing Partner of IEP.
Future Funding Plans
IEP is now looking to aggressively scale up its investment capabilities. As articulated by Wisch, “We will raise a significantly higher fund subsequent year.” This ambitious plan draws inspiration from the success of India Real Estate Opportunity (IREO) Fund, IEP’s sister concern. IREO had invested $1.4 billion out of its $1.6 billion equity in the Indian real estate sector between 2004-2007, starting with a modest corpus of $150 million before growing to raise $1.1 billion.
Market Outlook and Leadership Enhancements
Chairman and Managing Director Khanna encapsulated the current market sentiment as “an electrifying time for private equity.” He further indicated that IEP’s existing fund might be fully allocated for investments by the next year.
In a strategic move to bolster its leadership, IEP has onboarded K K Iyer and Sudarshan Sampathkumar, erstwhile lead partners at Accenture, as Managing Directors. This enhancement is expected to further propel IEP’s investment endeavors.