Standard Chartered and IL&FS Investment Managers are close to signing an agreement to raise a $1 billion India-focused infrastructure private equity fund, the Business Standard said on Tuesday.
The two companies are expected to finalise a joint venture to manage the fund, which will be announced by the end of the month, the newspaper said, in an unsourced report.
A spokesman for IL&FS declined to comment. A spokesman for Standard Chartered did not immediately return a call.
The joint venture is likely to be structured in a manner similar to the one that IL&FS entered earlier this year with Abu Dhabi Investment Co. for a $1 billion fund, the paper said.
IL&FS said at the time the equal joint venture for an infrastructure fund would invest in assets in the Middle East and North Africa.
A raft of international funds raised by the likes of Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse are looking for bargains in India, which needs to invest about $320 billion to overcome infrastructure bottlenecks.
Source : Reuters