PE funds to bid hard for next lot of stressed assets, but with a rider

Lukewarm to Air India because they lack turnaround expertise

New opportunities are knocking on the doors of global private equity (PE) funds with debt-laden companies undergoing insolvency resolution and with the aviation ministry wooing them to bid for cash-strapped Air India. The question is whether they will bite the bullet.

The response of PE funds in the insolvency proceedings of 12 big corporate defaulters has been lukewarm. Bain Capital, TPG, Blackstone and KKR had all shown initial interest, with some submitting expressions of interest. But only AION, a joint venture between Apollo Global Management and ICICI Venture, which bid with the JSW group, is close to securing clearance to buy