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Till a week ago, Quadria Capital Investment Advisors was one among the hundreds of Asia-focused unknown private equity firms. Its recent acquisition of Milestone Religare Investment Advisors, a 50:50 joint venture between Milestone Capital and Religare, has catapulted it into the spotlight. Amit Varma, managing partner, had been involved with the Milestone Religare franchise since inception. He is also a critical care physician with two decades' practice in the US and India. He speaks to Reghu Balakrishnan on the plans of Milestone-Religare. Edited excerpts:
After buyout, what are the priorities?
The priority is to manage the current investments as the fund is now completely deployed.
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We have to take stock and decide on potential future fund raises after a couple of months of stabilisation.
What are your plans?
We need to speak with all stakeholders - team and contributors - and then it will be decided. At this time, no changes are contemplated. Our current team has adequate size with four members, a good blend of seniors and juniors.
How are the portfolios and the exit plans?
Pretty much all investments are doing well, based on follow-on investments in the companies. CARE Ratings has gone for an initial public offering recently. Exits will be a mix of primary and secondary deals.
Any plans to raise new funds?
We will strategise and discuss this post-stabilisation over the next couple of months and look at the possibility of a domestic raise. We would like to stay core to healthcare, going forward.
What about Quadria's $300-million healthcare fundraising plans?
We are looking at an imminent first close and a final close in the second quarter of 2014. With regard to investments, there are four quadrants of interests - healthcare delivery, life sciences, medical technology and retail health. The investment bite size for us is $10-50 million. The geography for investments is South Asia and Southeast Asia, which does not include China.
Is there any plan to merge Milestone-Religare with Quadria?
At this time, the intention is to keep the platform separate, with independent professional teams. The Milestone-Religare team is in India and the Quadria Asia team is between Singapore and Delhi.
