Put together, the alternate assets group of Kotak which currently manages $1.4 billion of assets under the two asset classes —private equity & realty funds — will invest $300 million in these areas,” said Nitin Deshmukh, group head, Kotak Private Equity. “We are in talks with mid-sized companies to seek capital for business expansions, acquisition financing and buyout transactions,” he said.
The Kotak Group has been associated with private equity investments since 1997. Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG) is the private equity arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank.
KPEG provides companies a combination of equity capital, strategic support and other value added services, playing a pro-active role with the entrepreneur in building the business. Some of the previous deals include investment of Rs 100 crore ($22.5 million) in Hyderabad-based DRS Group, a leading logistics and transportation service provider last year.
Some of the other companies where KPEG has invested are Dynaspede Integrated Systems that offers turnkey solutions to the power and control engineering segment, Bharat Fritz Werner which is into CNC manufacturing space, SIRO Clinpharm which is into clinical research services, home solutions retail and INX Media that that runs the 9X channel among others. KPEG owns majority stakes in both Dynapsede & SIRO Clinpharm.
Kotak Realty Fund is in talks with various realty companies and hospitality developers for investment. “The focus will be companies developing mid market hotels and low cost housing. Previously, we had invested in Pride Group of hotels and Lemon Tree hotels and we are looking at similar hotels this time. Our focus will also be on logistics and warehousing sector,” S Sriniwasan, chief executive officer, Kotak Realty Fund told ET.
The investment helps the fund to pick up a stake in the project or the company and be represented on the board of the company, he added. The fund is closed ended and has a life of seven years. Kotak Realty Fund had invested Rs 1,250 crore in the Hyderabadbased realty company, IVR Prime. The investment was both at the company as well as the project level.
Kotak Realty Fund, established in May 2005, has a focus on real estate and real estate intensive businesses. Kotak Realty Fund operates as a venture capital fund, under the Sebi Venture Capital Fund Regulations, 1996 in India. The fund’s corpuses have been contributed by various banks, domestic corporates, family offices and high net worth individuals.
Source: Economic Times