The new fund, the ninth from ChrysCapital in a span of two decades, will be the largest by an India-specific private equity fund manager.
ChrysCapital would be targeting large institutional investors and high-net worth family offices mainly from North America and Europe, besides sovereign and pension money managers from Asia and the Middle East, people with direct knowledge of the matter told ET.
“Chrys will formally launch the fund by early next year and aims to close it by end March, next year,” said one of the people. “The structure of the fund will be mostly offshore. However, they will also keep an option for Indian HNIs to participate in the fund. This will allow the local fund pool to be part of Chrys’ investment capital,” the person said.
When contacted, a ChrysCapital spokesperson declined to comment.
Major investments from its most recent fund VIII include a 30% stake purchase in Ahmedabad-based drug manufacturer Corona Remedies for $90 million, 35% in new-age personal care brand WOW Skin Science India, a Rs350 crore investment in Safex Chemicals, minority investment in Singapore-based engineering solutions company QuEST Global and a 2.8% stake in software company KPIT Technologies.
Founded in 1999, ChrysCapital has raised $4 billion across eight funds. It is currently investing out of its $900-million eighth fund.
The New Delhi-headquartered firm is one of the oldest alternative asset managers from India. It has also been one of the most successful PE investors.
The core team of ChrysCapital, founded by Ashish Dhawan, comprises former Goldman Sachs executive Kunal Shroff, former KPMG executive Ashley Menezes, former Ranbaxy executive Sanjiv Kaul and Sanjay Kukreja, who has been with ChrysCapital since April 2000.
ChrysCapital was an early investor in Yes Bank, Axis Bank, as well as Idea Cellular (which has merged with Vodafone India to form Vodafone Idea) and HCL Technologies. Its fund VIII had seen participation from global investors including Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, Asia Alternatives Capital Partners, Adam Street Partners, Singapore-based GIC and Harvard Management.
“Fundraising for India-focused funds reached the highest levels ever in 2020 — $3 billion, growing by more than 40% compared to 2019. Most major funds closed in H1 2020, continuing from the strong momentum from 2019,” the Indian Venture Capital Association and Bain & Co said in a recent report. “Despite the record-breaking year for fundraising, India-focused dry powder has remained stable over the last four years, ending 2020 at $6 billion. This indicates strong investment activity going forward into 2021 and beyond.”
Another homegrown private equity firm, Kedaara Capital, is also in the process of raising a billion-dollar fund, its third. Kedaara had raised a $540 million debut fund in 2013 and a $750 million second fund in 2017.
