India would flourish as an economy: Carlyle India Advisors

Excerpts from Bazaar on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show » ALSO READ See what other FIIs are saying about the markets See what other experts are saying about markets See what Udayan Mukherjee is saying about the markets Nifty BSE | NSE 25/05/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

Carlyle India Advisors recently raised more than a billion dollar to invest in China and India though their Asia Growth Capital Fund.
M Shankar Narayanan, MD, Carlyle India Advisors, said the organization's primary focus was on unlisted companies and there was no clear demarcation on India, China investments. "I think India would flourish as an economy and we see a lot of opportunities as a result of that. We continue to focus on domestic consumption and outsourcing themes," he added.

Here is a verbatim transcript of the exclusive interview with M Shankar Narayananon CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.

Q: Of these billion dollars will it be half-half China-India or no such demarcation as such, depends on opportunities?

A: We have no such demarcation, it depends on opportunities but roughly it will probably be 55:45 something like that but it again depends on the quality of the valuations etc, we don't have a clear demarcation. Our approach is typically to invest between USD 15 million and USD 75 million in minority positions; our sweet spot is between 20-35% in a company. We typically runaway from control, we believe in backing entrepreneurs who have a track record of profitability. We feel a platform like Carlyle with its network of investment companies, relationships etc could act as a catalyst in a lot of these companies as we make them world leaders in their niches.
Q: From what you are saying some of these QIPs could be perfect for Carlyle or be it not that high by way of percentage stake, would you be looking actively at some of those stories as well?

A: As a firm we believe in investing only if we have shareholder agreement and the board seat. In the past we have done one-two listed companies but our primary focus is on unlisted companies before companies go public.
Continued on next page ...