Promethean India buys 8% stake in Nitco

Promethean India, a part of the Promethean private equity group UK, has acquired 8 per cent stake in Nitco Tiles, a listed tile manufacturing company, through participatory notes (P-notes).

The group has applied for a foreign institutional investor (FII) licence in India and hopes to get it soon with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) liberalising the norms.

The Promethean India fund is managed by Mohit Burman, a scion of Dabur Group and Sir Peter Bert, former chairman of ITV.

The Promethean Group of UK was founded in 2004. Promethean India investment fund, which is their first India-focused fund, raised $150 million this year from Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London.

The group has already funded 35 per cent of the corpus and has committed 50 per cent or $115 million.

The PE fund has invested in Mahindra Forgings and has financed an acquisition for the company in Germany. Financial services, consumer products and retail are the favourite sectors for this private equity fund.

The average deal size undertaken by Promethean is $20 million and they look for 25 per cent returns within a span of two years.

Promethean's fund has institutional investors ranging from Bank of Scotland, Allied Trust and First Aid to New Stars.

Gaurav Burman, founder member, Promethean investments said, "India is a very big market for private equity players. There is virtually a room for every player in this field. The incredible pace at which India is growing has thrown plenty of opportunities for everyone. We have been looking for these opportunities through network of Dabur."

Peter Bert, chairman, Promethean Investments, said, "I think Indian companies are fairly valued, especially the large caps. Valuation has not been an issue for us. We have got likeminded people to work with and it has been fantastic experience so far investing in these companies."