Greenstone Equity Partners, a top fund placement firm in the Middle East, has partnered with Multiples Alternate Asset Management, an India-based investment advisory firm, to offer investment opportunities in the South-Asian country.

The new collaboration will work towards raising capital for Multiples Fund II, a $500 million India-specific, sector agnostic private equity fund, which aims to invest in mid-to-late stage opportunities and mid-cap control/buy-out investments with a strong preference for opportunities in sectors that are consumer-focused.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Multiples, whose entrepreneurial mindset and distinctive investments approach are invaluable assets for us,” said Omar Al-Gharabally, president of Greenstone Equity Partners.

“Driven by their experienced founder, Renuka Ramnath, Multiples has a strong reputation in the Indian private equity industry as a leader in attracting deal flow in a mature and well intermediated market. Combined with our expertise and knowledge of the GCC region, we are confident that this partnership will expose our investors to opportunities with superior returns.”  

“At Multiples, we strongly believe that in an evolving economy like India we need to have a flexible investment approach in companies of different sizes and stages,” said Renuka Ramnath, founder of Multiples Alternate Asset Management Private Limited.

“Our team’s sector-agnostic, yet sector-knowledgeable, strategy provides access to a wide funnel of opportunities in a country perceived to be the world’s fastest growing economy.

“Backed by Greenstone Equity Partners’ strong association with sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors and family offices in the GCC region, which is also home to a large majority of Indian nationals, we believe that we can establish a strong footprint in this region and develop new long-term relationships,” she added.

Private equity investments in India witnessed a phenomenal year in 2014 with $12.7 billion invested across 480 deals. Despite only a 7 per cent increase in the number of deals compared to the previous year, the deal value rose by 30 per cent in 2014, indicating transactions of larger value taking place.

Although there has been variability within the quarters, investments on a yearly basis have witnessed an upward trend, with a CAGR of 25 per cent in investment value and 10 per cent in number of deals from 2009 till 2014. – TradeArabia News Service