Henderson Global lines up $40 m investment

Henderson Global Investors, a leading international investment management company, plans to invest $40 million (approximately Rs 180 crore) in India over three months.

Sanjiv Kapur, private equity head (Asia Pacific) of Henderson Global Investors (Singapore), said the firm has identified firms across various sectors in India and plans on investing $40 million. Kapur, however, declined to divulge the specifics, indicating that the discussions were at an advanced stage.

Henderson Private Capital is the private capital operation of Henderson Global Investors. Henderson Private Capital Asia Pacific team currently manages a $210 million fund, `Henderson Asia Pacific Equity Partners 1, LP'.

The fund typically invests between $10 million and $30 million per deal and seeks deals that focus on buyouts and expansion.

Allocation for India investments from the existing corpus is in the range of $100-125 million.

Of the existing corpus, the firm's investment till date has been over $60 million. Kapur indicated that this funds exposure has been the biggest in India and Korea followed by China.

Till date, the company has invested over $60 million in the country. Its investments include, include Bharti Tele-Ventures, Hindustan Times and the pharmaceutical player Jubliant Organosys.

On the new fund that the firm had planned on raising, Kapur said it was on track and would start raising the second fund at the end of the year. The corpus of the second fund is expected to be $300 million, of which he reiterated that 40 per cent will be slated for investments in India.

Henderson has been active in the country since 1999. One of the firms earlier fund was the $50 million India Infrastructure Fund, which invested in the Delhi-based Indraprastha Gas Ltd, the sole supplier of CNG in New Delhi, and another investment in the private sector Gujarat Pipavav Port.