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| Q&A: J M Trivedi, Head, Actis Private Equity | | 'Buyouts can only be small in India's PE market in foreseeable future' |
| Raghuvir Badrinath / Aug 29, 2011, 00:27 IST |
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 It is among the top private equity funds in the emerging markets, with substantive investments in India; more importantly, the 2004-founded company a major player in buyouts space. With $4.6 billion funds under management, Actis Private Equity is forging ahead despite economic uncertainty. The fund has been in the news recently for some of the most profitable exits in the buyouts space and is setting the platform for a couple of more ventures. The Indian & South Asian leg of the London-headquartered entity is led by J M Trivedi, who has led a number of successful investments — most notably Glenmark, UTI Bank, Sterling Hospital, Paras Pharmaceuticals and Avtec. In an interview with Raghuvir Badrinath, Trivedi, who assumed the post almost four-and-a-half years ago, notes that the platform for buyouts in India is getting established and is set for a major upswing.
Even though the private equity sector is more than a decade old and maturing pretty fast, we do not see buyouts from PE funds making a significant mark. What are the main hurdles for buyout funds to expand in India...as is prevalent in the West?
Actis has a strong track record of buyouts in the Indian market and executed the first buyout deal in India with our stake in Punjab Tractors. Of the 38 private equity deals we have completed in India, only 8 have been buy-outs. The biggest driver for control deals in the country is succession issues in family-managed businesses, where the founders want to realise value or some family members want to cash out to start independent ventures. The biggest hurdle to the buyout is the relationship between the PE firm and promoters. You are asking an entrepreneur, and often their family, to invest a very high level of trust when you seek to buy a controlling stake in their business. To gain this trust, you must have patience. This is understandable if you were selling the business you had founded, which you had lived with day in and day out, and grown so carefully, you would want to know that it was being passed on to a firm that will nurture it and retain its core values and add incremental value...grow it faster or expand margins. When we work with an entrepreneur, we are looking to build a relationship over a very long period of time.
What are the macro phenomena which need to change in India if the buyouts scenario has to accelerate?
Much is already changing: Indian promoters do see the value the right PE partner can bring. They also increasingly understand the very real financial advantage of the buyout route. This will increase as more and more exits occur over the coming years. Sometimes the gradual build-up of a stake is the best strategy to prevent alienating the entrepreneur. Over time, the PE firm proves they are deserving shareholders. India’s growth at around 8 per cent continues to attract foreign investment and PE and hedge funds continue to allocate a substantial proportion of their emerging market investment to India. Less volatile capital markets, lower inflation and the easing of regulatory constraints on financial investors will result in an improved deal environment. Debt is a classic value enhancement lever in a buyout; however, rapidly growing companies in strong growth industries have lower levels of debt tolerance. Bearing this in mind, India’s lucrative growth opportunities may mean buyouts could remain a small segment of the Indian PE market for the foreseeable future.
With respect to your fund, how has been your experience in managing large corporations with professional management after the promoter exits?
I think we take a different approach. When Actis invests in a company, we are not looking for the promoter to exit completely. We try to keep the promoter involved in the business as an owner/shareholder and to augment the management with professional managers and high quality board members. In our experience, working with the promoter harnesses the founding spirit of the company and aligns the vision and values of the business with the energy of new management talent. This has been our experience with companies such as Paras and Sterling.
What are the changes would you want to see in the regulatory situation for the buyouts funds to expand?
Well, there some changes that could facilitate more buyouts. Like, Reserve Bank of India relaxing restrictions on lending. Currently domestic banks are restricted from providing loans for the purchase of shares; the only exception to promote international ownership is when domestic banks lend for purchasing equity in foreign joint ventures. One more aspect is amending delisting guidelines to allow the PE acquirer to buyout minority shareholders at an agreed upon price rather than the discovered price which bound to be higher after buyout announcement during the Open Offer process.
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