A private equity fund managed by TVS Capital Funds Ltd has sold its investment in Wonderla Holidays Ltd with a three-time return on the money it put into the company, as an anchor investor before the theme park and resort owner went public.

The company had raised ₹27 crore from anchor investors.

TVS Shriram Growth Fund Scheme 1B had bought 13.23 lakh shares in the theme park operator in two tranches, in April and May 2014, at ₹125 a share, for a 2.34 per cent stake. It has now sold the shares at an average price of ₹384.33 a share.

Against the original investment of ₹16.54 crore, the fund got ₹50.85 crore in secondary market exits, according to a press release from TVS Capital Funds.

“This investment has generated over 200 per cent absolute return and about 70 per cent internal rate of return for the fund, on the original capital deployed,” the release said.

‘A good investment’

Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Capital Funds, told BusinessLine that the private equity fund was impressed with the passion and innovation that the founder Kochouseph Chittilappilly and his son Arun Chittilappilly exhibited.

The three factors that made Wonderla a good investment option for TVS Capital Funds were the strong brand positioning in the market, the tight control on capital expenditure despite enhanced safety standards and aggressive profitable expansion.

TVS Capital, he said, as the largest anchor investor, had helped Wonderla in the process of setting up a theme park in Chennai and in some key recruitment.

Wonderla raised about ₹180 crore at ₹125 a share in a public issue in April 2014. It listed on the stock exchanges on May 9. Its shares closed at ₹405.65 on the BSE on Wednesday.

The average revenue per person at the theme parks in FY16 was ₹780 and the total footfalls that year, when it had theme parks in Kochi and Bengaluru, were 22.37 lakh. Its Hyderabad theme park was opened in April 2016 and against a capacity of 10,000 persons a day, it is now attracting 3,000 persons. The occupancy at the resort it runs in Bengaluru increased to 45 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY16 from 35 per cent in the same period the previous year.

According to the release, TVS Shriram Growth Fund 1B is the second private equity fund launched by TVS Capital Funds and it manages around ₹600 crore. The fund focuses on consumer discretionary and financial sectors. It owns a portfolio mix of PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity) investments and stakes in unlisted companies to strike a balance between exit flexibility, liquidity and returns for investors.

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