The Hindu Business Line : ABN Amro mulls opening India-centric pvt equity fund

Chennai, Aug. 3 ABN Amro is considering starting a private equity fund for investing in India, Mr Brajesh Mehra, Country Corporate & Investment Bank Head, India, said.

In a chat with journalists here, Mr Mehra said that the bank had a customer base of over 3,000 SME units and over 800 large companies. Almost all the top 50 Indian companies by market capitalisation are among its clients. Many of them require equity funding, he said.

“We are studying the market. There are already many players,” Mr Mehra said. The tossup is between whether to have an India-dedicated fund or take equity positions through the Asia fund it already has. The bank is also planning to offer ‘warehouse receipt financing’, a product that is still nascent in India.

Mr Mehra and Mr Kranti Jaiswal, Executive Director, and Head CPM, South Asia, Commercial Segment, said that the bank was very active in India in funding acquisitions, especially cross-border M&As.

ABN Amro was involved in the takeover deals of Suzlon, Hindalco and Tata Steel (Corus), they said.

Also, the bank, which has an investment banking division, is active in assisting Indian companies access funds through the ECB route. A part of the $17-billion ECB loans last year came in with ABN Amro’s assistance, Mr Jaiswal said.

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