The Hindu Business Line : Merlion India Fund bullish on FMCG sector

WHO says the FMCG industry is down in the dumps? While analysts and players in this not-so fast moving industry have been crying hoarse about the slowdown that gripped it last fiscal, it seems overseas investment firms have an altogether different view of the opportunities the Indian consumer offers.

Merlion India Fund, managed by Standard Chartered Private Equity, said it has identified the FMCG market among its priority investment areas in India and was actively looking at making investments, provided the asking price was realistic.

"We are a $100-million fund dedicated to investing in India. While we are open to investing in all areas, our special focus areas include consumer and FMCG industries besides pharma, health, financial services and information technology. The branded consumer sector is particularly interesting," Merlion's Managing Director, Mr Karam Butalia, told Business Line from Singapore.

Asked about which particular product segments or industry the fund was currently interested in, Mr Butalia declined to give details but confirmed that no investments have been made in the FMCG sector in India till date by the fund.

While he also did not specify how much the fund was willing to invest in the country, Mr Butalia did say, "We try to invest at least $10 million per transaction".

On why was the fund bullish on the FMCG market in India despite the ongoing slowdown, squeezed margins and affected bottomlines, Mr Butalia said, "The key issue in this sector in India is that the asking price is unrealistic... we have an FMCG specialist currently looking at deals in India".

Merlion India is a $100-million India-focused private equity fund, managed by Standard Chartered Private Equity Ltd (SCPEL). The Fund was set up to provide growth capital for Indian companies that aim to expand their business within India and beyond.

It plans to focus on mid to late stage companies in most growth sectors with the exception of infrastructure, real estate and trading.

A private equity arm of Standard Chartered Bank, SCPEL makes investments in companies in need of expansion capital or acquisition finance, and in management buy-outs.

It has offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and India and invests in companies located in Greater China, Korea, South East Asia and India.

SCPEL is an active partner that provides board-level strategic advice and access to the international network of Standard Chartered Bank.

Temasek, the Singapore Government investment arm, is a sponsor investor in the Merlion India Fund.

More Stories on : Mutual Funds | Personal Products

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Merlion India Fund bullish on FMCG sector

Sensex, Nifty dance to the tune of global forces — Correlation with emerging markets