Fundraising

CLSA Capital makes partial exit from India’s Havell

CLSA Capital Partners, the alternative asset management arm of CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, a Hong Kong investment bank and broker, has made a partial exit from a listed Indian power distribution equipment maker.

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CLSA Capital Partners has partially divested its shareholding in Havell’s India, a locally-listed power distribution equipment manufacturer.

It sold a portion of its shareholding at over four times of the investment costs, CLSA said in a statement. In December 2004, the fund manager picked up $5 million worth of fully convertible debentures with a coupon rate of 4 percent with conversion within 18 months.

Josephine Price, managing director of CLSA Private Equity said the partial divestment marks CLSA’s first exit from an Indian listed company.

Gary Ng, director of CLSA Private Equity said Havell has achieved a compounded annual growth of almost 50 percent in the last three years both on revenues and profits.

He said: “It has expanded both its distribution reach and product range. We felt it prudent to realise some returns for our investors but we continue to see good growth potential in the company and therefore have only partially exited our investment.”
 
Last year, CLSA invested, from the ARIA fund, $14.5 million in Apar Industries, another Indian company that caters to the power sector. In August, CLSA launched Clean Resources Asia, a hedge fund and private equity hybrid, fund seeking opportunities in non-carbon energy investments.