Affirma Capital plans USD 225 mn India investment in 3 yrs; leads $56 mn funding in RMSI

New Delhi, Oct 30 (PTI) Private equity investment firm Affirma Capital plans to deploy around USD 225 million (about Rs 2000 crore) over the next three years in India through an India-focused fund, a senior company official said on Thursday.

The firm has also led a USD 56 million funding round in engineering services firm RMSI Limited, which is its first investment through its India-focused vehicle Agastya Capital India Growth Fund in close partnership with 360 ONE Asset.

"We have announced that we are funding RMSI. This is the first deal that we have done from the second fund. It's our first investment out of our second fund, which is a 100 per cent India-focused fund, where we invest in four key sectors, namely consumer, healthcare, financial services, and technology," Affirma Capital, founding partner and India Head Udai Dhawan told PTI.

Affirma Capital claims to currently manage over USD 4 billion in assets for a global base of institutional investors.

The firm is owned and operated by the former senior leadership of Standard Chartered Private Equity.

Dhawan said that Affirma Capital invests in the range of Rs 200 to Rs 500 crore in each company.

The Affirma Capital team has handled investments of over Rs 7,000 crore in India, and earned about Rs 22,000 crore for its limited partners, he added.

Talking about the pipeline, Dhawan said there are two deals in a diligent stage, and others are in early valuation.

The deployment period of any investment is three to four years, and based on the investment practice, the company may invest around 750 crore every year.

"So, basically, deploying about Rs 2,000 crore (around USD 225 million) over a three-year period," Dhawan pointed out.

He said that the company is in the process of raising Rs 2,000 crore and has made its first close, from which investment has been made into RMSI.

"We expect to close the fund by the end of next year," Dhawan said. PTI PRS PRS BAL BAL