Amicus Capital raises Rs600 crore, eyes portfolio mix of 10-12 firms

Amicus Capital Partners, the growth capital private equity fund founded by former Carlyle India managing director Mahesh Parasuraman and Sunil Theckath Vasudevan, former partner of India Value Fund Advisors, has raised about $90 million (Rs600 crore) as first close of its $200 million fund.

Amicus, which was launched in March 2015, has seen commitments from large European family offices and multilateral institutions. 

This is the first time in three years that an Indian PE fund is raising its first fund after Kedaara Capital Advisors Ltd, founded by Manish Kejriwal, raised money.

Kedaara had raised its first fund of $540 million in November 2013. 

The fund will largely look at acquiring minority stakes of 20-49%, but will also consider acquiring controlling stakes as the situation demands rather than making it a core fund strategy, said Parasuraman, co-founder and partner of Amicus Capital.

The investment size per deal comes to about Rs50-150 crore.

The fund is looking to invest in healthcare, technology and business services, financial services, and consumer and leisure companies that have at least Rs40 crore revenue.

“We are looking for a portfolio mix of 10-12 companies, possibly (including) 2-3 control transactions,” he added.

The fund is expected to complete raising $200 million by end of 2017.

“A lot of money was given back to LPs (limited partners or investors) in the last couple of years through successful initial public offers (IPOs) and sell-offs in India, creating a positive environment for fund raising. Still, LPs remain cautious and back the right team with a proven track record,” said Parasuraman.

Parasuraman, a former managing director with Carlyle India Advisors Pvt Ltd, worked with Carlyle during 2004 to 2015 and advised on several transactions involving Tirumala Milk Products, Repco Home Finance, Newgen KnowledgeWorks Pvt. Ltd, Edelweiss Financial Services and South Indian Bank.

Vasudevan of Amicus was part of the investment team at ICICI Venture Funds during 1993-2000. During 2000-14, Vasudevan was a co-founding partner at India Value Fund Adviors (IVFA), which raised four funds totalling $1.2 billion during his tenure.

Vasudevan, who led IVFA’s investments in the healthcare sector, led bets like Biocon Ltd, Trinethra Super Retail Pvt. Ltd and Aster DM Healthcare.

Several veterans in investment banking or private equity industry have quit their jobs to start their own funds. Vishal Kamalnain Bakshi, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., launched his own private equity business called Avatar Growth Capital Partners, a mid-market private equity firm that will look at investing in high-growth companies.

Heramb R. Hajarnavis, a former director at KKR & Co. LP in India, had quit to set up his own private equity firm -SeaLink Capital Partners. 

About two dozen private equity industry executives are on the road to raise up to $2 billion for their new funds, a 29 July Mint report said. 

Private equity investments in India last year rose to a record $22.4 billion, 32% higher than the 2007 peak of $17 billion, according to a report by consultant Bain & Co. India Pvt. Ltd.

The deal value was 48% higher than in 2014 ($15.2 billion), the report said.