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Singapore government-owned sovereign fund Temasek remains optimistic on India and it expects more deals in current financial year. The firm believes the change in the Indian government will drive more investments to the country as the hurdles in decision making are expected to be removed.
Temasek, one of the more active sovereign wealth funds in India, did not make many fresh investments in FY14; it put in more money in its existing portfolio firm Tata Sky and invested in Star Agri-warehousing and Collateral Management, an agri-solutions company. It had made a co-investment in e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal. Temasek is also in discussions to acquire ChrysCapital’s stake in Intas Pharmaceuticals.
For Temasek, with a portfolio worth $180 billion, India was four per cent of its net portfolio value, based on underlying assets. Ravi Lambah, co-head of Temasek India, said: “We have increased our public market investments in India while our private market investment pipeline is strong.”
According to Promeet Ghosh, managing director of Temasek India, the firm will keep its eye on areas with consumption-drives stories. “Financial services, banking, consumer led industries, cement companies, pharma and health care are the preferred sectors for us,” he said.
Temasek is also keenly watching e-commerce space evolving in India. “The opportunity is vast as internet penetration increases. We will continue to watch, there will be more leaders with multiple models in the e-commerce space,” said Lambah.
“When we first invested in Alibaba in China, it was a small investment. In subsequent years, we invested larger amounts and the company grew faster,” he added.
Alibaba plans to raise $18 billion in its upcoming initial public offering at a valuation of $160 billion.
Temasek's major India portfolio include GMR Energy, Shobha Developers, Tata Tele, Tata Sky, GVK Power, Bharti Airtel, Bharti Infratel, and Healthcare Global.
