New Delhi, Oct. 24 -- Creador set to overshoot hard-cap for sixth PE fund as it courts new LP
Creador, the South- and Southeast Asia-focused private equity firm that has set the ball rolling to monetize around half a dozen India investments this year alone and recently joined another PE firm to enter the cap table of an Indian insurance broker, is now courting a new limited partner (LP).
The mid-market private equity firm that was founded by former ChrysCapital partner Brahmal Vasudevan, is eyeing around $800 million (about Rs 6,700 crore) for its sixth consecutive vehicle. This fund has a hard-cap of $850 million and the PE firm is likely to breach the mark given the demand from LPs to commit capital, VCCircle has gathered.
The latest LP that may commit money to the new fund is International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of World Bank group. IFC will be a first time LP with Creador, even as it is one if the more active offshore LPs in the region.
Notably, Creador has raised money from other development financial institutions (DFIs) in the past including the likes of ADB. Indeed, ADB is also looking to commit as much as $75 million to Creador VI, the latest investment vehicle of the PE firm. ADB is evaluating a proposal to sign as much as $75 million cheque to the fund.
ADB had also joined Creador as a LP for its fifth fund, investing nearly $60 million in the vehicle. It backed the PE firm across two previous funds in 2016 and 2018, as well.
Kuala Lumpur-based Creador, which has operations in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, invests in sectors such as financial services, consumer, healthcare, business services and manufacturing. The firm invests in the mid-market segment, with cheques of up to $70 million.
In the past, the PE firm has invested 35-40% of its corpus in India. However, with the new fund, 40-45% is likely to be invested in India, Vasudevan had told VCCircle earlier this year.
With the new vehicle, Vasudevan said the PE firm was going to focus on opportunities in the $50-70 million range, where there are not a lot of firms operating.
It would be looking to back 10-12 companies via this new fund. Creador may allocate around $300-400 million to India from this fund.
Earlier this year, after a gap of about two years in India, the firm invested $50 million in IT firm Hinduja Tech for a minority stake. It also bought a majority stake in VCare, which operates skin and hair treatment clinics.
Creador and Norwest are also coming on board the Samara-led investment platform for the insurance broking segment, Edme Services Pvt Ltd, to acquire Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers Ltd.
Samara had signed a deal to acquire Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers in March year at an enterprise value of Rs 455 crore. At the time, Creador and Norwest were not part of the deal.
It has also struck a few exits from the country recently, including divesting a part of its stake in Ujjivan Financial Services. Previously, Creador sold half of its stake in Sapphire Foods India Ltd., which is one of the largest franchisees for Yum! Brands' KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants in the Indian subcontinent.
Creador's other investments in India include Paras Healthcare and Shriji Polymers.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.