The Hindu Business Line : Kotak Mahindra to roll out Rs 250-cr pvt equity fund

THE Kotak Mahindra group is rolling out its first private equity fund, a vehicle with a corpus of Rs 250 crore. The fund will seek to invest across sectors.

The group, whose interests range from banking to asset management to stock broking, is currently in the process of activating the fund. The idea is to invest in young but established companies, ones that are more than mere start-up ventures.

The fund hopes to identify companies with enough growth opportunities, said Mr C. Jayaram, Executive Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, adding that the emphasis will be on investing in good business models. "This will be our first major effort in this direction and we intend to be a serious player", he observed.

The group, which has initiated the process of talking to various companies on the matter, is of the view that private equity investments can add substantial value to businesses. At another level, it is also aware that the Indian equity market has done fairly well in recent times, buoyed as it has been by a number of positive factors.

Equities, Mr Jayaram said, have provided decent returns in the past one year and more, a performance that may well be repeated if adequate caution is exercised by investors. "Investors may not expect too much but generating good returns from stocks are within the realm of possibility", he pointed out.

Debt, on the other hand, has lately been toned down to some extent although debates with regard to interest rate movements have carried on endlessly. Interest rates, incidentally, may not change as dramatically as some quarters have been predicting, it is felt.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, meanwhile, is trying to widen its reach to cover smaller centres. The next 12 to 18 months will see more action in terms of retail operations. A 20 per cent growth in business is expected this year, it was stated.