Array

New Delhi, Aug 1: Switzerland-India based private equity BTS Investment Advisors, today launched the 'BTS India Private Equity Fund', with a corpus of $80 million that would invest in medium size enterprises seeking expansion capital.

The fund, would have prominent international institutions as anchor investors.

''We are launching this India dedicated fund at a time when the Indian economy is registering record annual growth, offering us exciting investment opportunities. Our target is medium size companies of all growth sectors, which are either export driven or addressing the booming domestic markets. We would like to have significant minority stakes in these companies with an investment size ranging between $1-5 million per company over a holding period of 3-5 years,'' BTS Investment Advisors Chairman Alastair Guggenbuhl-Even said.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) of Switzerland, acting through the Swiss Investment Fund For Emerging Markets (SIFEM), is the first anchor investor with a commitment of 12 million dollar.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has joined as co-anchor with a commitment to invest 15 million dollar. Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) and International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF- Taiwan) are the other two anchor investors with an investment commitment of 5 million dollar each.

Apart from these anchor investors, the Fund received investment commitments from several high net worth offshore investors and family offices in Europe and Asia.

BTS has a portfolio of 19 companies spread across various sectors, and is a follow-on fund to Swiss Tec.

BTS India Private Equity Fund will invest in industries where India has global competitive advantages. Among the sectors targeted are, Life Science/Pharma, Manufacturing, Engineering, IT&IT enabled Services, telecom and entertainment.

BTS Investment Advisors Ltd (BTS-IA) is the investment advisor of the fund, and is a key financial service provider advising on investments into the Indian markets.

BTS-IA has a private equity team of five investment professionals in Mumbai, alongwith two investment professionals from Zurich office of BTS group that manages over $800 million in securities in India.

BTS India Private Equity Fund Limited (Offshore Fund) is a limited liability company based in Mauritius, offering a tax efficient structure for international investors.

UNI