Founded in 2006, the Asia-focused fund has $1.4 billion under management and invests in India, as well as other rapidly growing economies in Asia and West Asia. So far, it has invested about $350 million across eight companies in India. New Silk Route’s Founding General Partner and CEO Parag Saxena talks about how he sees 2010
Will the fund-raising scenario improve?
Fund-raising scenario should improve in 2010. New Silk Route (NSR) may, however, not require raising funds in 2010.
Which will be the focus sectors in 2010?
New Silk Route’s focus areas will be infrastructure, telecommunications, consumer services, manufacturing, information technology and financial services.
The average deal size seems to be going up, as there appears to be a shortage of capital for larger transactions.
Will there be a change in the way you manage your portfolio firms?
As our portfolio builds, we will provide substantial help to our portfolio companies who are looking for new customers, or will help them with their manufacturing, regulatory, operational or other partnership strategies.
There were very few deals in 2009. Should we expect a flurry of deals in 2010? Or will firms, such as yours, continue to be cautious?
We anticipate more deals in 2010. Deal flow has picked up since the second half of 2009, as buyer-seller price expectations have grown closer. We expect that the continuation of this trend will lead to more transactions in 2010.
We believe that valuations, which rose in 2009, will stay at these levels in 2010.
