Nexus raises $220m through India specific fund

Excerpts from Midcap Radar on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show » Nifty BSE | NSE 10/02/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

Nexus India Capital, closed their second fund. It raised about USD 220 million. It is an India specific fund. Their first fund closed in 2006 and raised about USD 100 million.

 

Naren Gupta, MD, Nexus India Capital said that the fund is looking at a four-six years investment cycle and added that in four-ten years lifetime of the fund, it is going to produce very good returns. The fund has stakes vary from anything between 10% and 30-35% in companies. "In the mid-term to long-term India has tremendous opportunity."

 

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview with Naren Gupta:

 

Q: In 2006, the market conditions were very different from what it is today. What is the peg or the idea behind this fund and how are you looking at growth opportunities now because times are tougher?

 

A: We are looking at a four-six years investment cycle. In the mid-term to long-term India has tremendous opportunity. We are going through some tough times in India right now. If you look at the four-ten years lifetime of the fund, it is going to produce very good returns.

 

Q: What are the sizes of the stakes that you picked up in these companies and which are the companies you are bullish on and in which sectors?

 

A: We do not get majority stakes in companies. That is not really what we do as a venture fund. Our stakes vary from anything between 10% and 30-35%. We are bullish on India in general. We are bullish on the consumer space, the business services space, and technology companies coming out of India. In the next few years, we are going to see global technology companies coming out of India. We are going to have the next Google come out of India and that is where India has the potential.

 

Q: Do you see any of the companies that you have invested in getting public in the next one-two years?

 

A: We see the companies from our first fund possibly going public in the next twelve-eighteen months. Our typical holding cycle for companies is about four-six years and our oldest investment is about two years old right now.

 

So over the next twelve-eighteen to twenty-four months we will have some listed companies.

 

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