Public sector Bank of Baroda is planning to foray into private equity (PE), according to sources. Sources told Business Standard that while the state-owned bank was already investing in PE funds, it was simultaneously investing from the proprietary book in equity of unlisted entities that were its customers. This, they said, was essentially in pre-IPO placements. They said the bank was analysing the PE structure for an early foray.
As investment avenues dry up, other banks like State Bank of India (SBI) and IDBI have also expressed their willingness to venture into the PE space. SBI, which already has tie-ups with Australian firm Macquarie and IFC Washington, is looking at launching another fund with sovereign entities of Oman.
It has received all approvals for its first India-focused fund with the two partners. SBI and Macquarie hold 45 per cent each in the venture while the rest 10 per cent is with IFC.
The fund has so far mobilised over $1 billion from domestic and overseas investors. The total corpus is expected to be above $2 billion.
