India draws world's biggest pvt equity fund

3i, possibly the world's largest private equity and venture capital fund, is looking at investing in India. It plans on either setting up a base here and starting to invest or acquiring a stake in a company and then gaining an entry in the market.

Patrick Dunne, group communications director of 3I, told Business Standard: "India is a very interesting market and we are tracking developments there. We are looking at investing in India." Dunne, however, refused to divulge the corpus for investment in India.

3i is active in Europe, the Asia-Pacific and in North America and has investments in over 2,000 companies across the globe. "Though we have not yet directly invested in Indian firms, we have invested in companies that have a presence in India. For instance, we have an investment in Ubinetics."

Dunne added. The fund invests across the world in industries like electronics, software, media, technology businesses and manufacturing enterprises, among others.

Set up in 1945, the London-listed FTSE 100 company operates across all stages of funding, from early-stage venture capital to growth capital and buyouts.

According to its website, in the US it typically invests $3 million to $25 million, with further investments over the lifecycle of the company. 3i describes itself as "the only venture capital firm operating on an industrial scale."

Major private equity and venture capital firms that are active in India include Newbridge, Actis (formerly known as CDC Capital Partners), Warburg Pincus, GW Capital, Carlyle and General Atlantic Partners.

India attracted about $774 million in private equity investment in 2003, a rise of 31.1 per cent over the previous year's $590 million.

Many foreign and domestic private investors that invested in the second half of 2003, well ahead of the rapid rise in stock market indices, have made handsome gains from their investments.