Global private equity player Citigroup Venture Capital (CVC) on Tuesday announced that it has invested $37 million (Rs 150 crore) in Delhi-based marble company SVIL Mines for a 20% stake in the company. This puts the valuation of the two-year old SVIL Mines at $185 million (Rs 750 crore). CVC will also be represented on the company’s board.
With this investment, CVC’s total India exposure stands at $800 mil-lion. The fund is planning to invest $1.5 billion of its current $4.5-billion emerging markets fund in India over the next two years. “We will invest $1.5 billion in the next two to three years. Since the $4.5-billion global fund allows 40% of the total fund size to be invested in a single geography, the investment can be as high as $1.8 billion across sectors,” said CVC India and Middle East managing director Ajay Re-lan.
With bigger deals in India on its agenda, CVC is also looking to make its future investments out of the fund and not out of Citigroup’s bal-ance sheet. CVC recently invested Rs 90 crore in edible oil company KS Oils. It has equity stakes in textiles company Spentex, polyester producer JBF Industries and International Tractors Ltd as well.
The private equity fund will be used for branding the company and opening 300 new retail outlets in the country over the next one year. Post funding, CVC will have a board seat,” said SVIL Mines director Rajan Kaicker.
Source: Economic Times
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