India Venture Advisors, the private equity arm of Piramal Enterprises Ltd, is set to raise a Rs 1,000-crore health care-focused fund. The Rs 500-crore fund, with an over-allotment of Rs 500 crore, will be launched officially within a month.
India Venture, founded in 2007 by Ajay Piramal and A K Purwar, former chairman of State Bank of India, has its focus on health care and life sciences investments. The fund, India Venture Advisors Fund II, will be raised from domestic investors and will see deals in the range of Rs 30-70 crore.
“We are yet to finish the formalities of registration with Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and we expect to launch the fund officially in a month,“ said Purwar, chairman of India Venture. According to him, the first closure of Rs 250-300 crore is expected by March 2013. The firm had launched the Rs 400-crore India Venture Advisors Fund II in 2009 and has made about six investments so far. The fund will make its final investment in a couple of weeks, Purwar said.
The first fund will start exiting investments by early next year. “We are not in a hurry as we have time till 2016 with a seven-year fund life,” he added.
Its investments include $19 million (Rs 104 crore today) in Trichy-based Kavery Medical Centre and Hospital, Rs 70-crore in Chandigarh-based Vardhman Chemtech Ltd and an undisclosed amount in pharmacy chain- Medplus.
According to data from VCCedge, the pharma and health care sector in India has witnessed 239 deals in the last five years worth $4.6 billion. Of which, the area of health care facilities saw 61 deals worth $1.4 billion, while the health care services space witnessed 50 deals worth $2 billion since 2007. In all, 53 deals worth $700 million have taken place in the pharmaceutical sector in the last five years. India Venture had reportedly made two investments in non-health care areas.
It had invested Rs 40 crore in Sangli-based manufacturer of ductile iron castings, Tulsi Castings and Machining, and another Rs 50 crore in Gurgaon-based infrastructure player C&C Constructions Ltd.
Source: Business Standard