World Bank unit International Finance CorporationBSE -4.94 % has invested $45 million (Rs 290 crore) in a $200-million fund, being raised by private equity firm Lighthouse to invest in India’s consumer sector.
While IFC will invest $20 million, its asset management arm will put in another $25 million in Lighthouse India Fund III, the PE firm said in a news release.
Lighthouse is able to raise the fund at a time when most fund managers are finding it tough to attract capital from global investors for repeat India focused funds, as a depreciation in the rupee has hurt their returns from earlier investments.
Lighthouse has already received commitments for two-thirds of the $200 million India Fund III from global marquee institutional investors, the release said. The fund is expected to close by the end of next quarter.
Lighthouse’s first India fund of $92.7 million was raised in 2008. The next fund, raised in 2013, was of $138 million. The firm, founded by Mukund Krishnaswamy, William Sean Sovak and with Sachin Bhartiya, has seen half a dozen repeat investors for the third fund.
“For funds with a good track record, getting investors to repose their trust again is not difficult. A lot of first-time fund managers and those who have failed to generate profitable returns have been struggling to raise capital,” Krishnaswamy told ET over the phone.
Source: Economic Times