Pravi Capital targets $200m for debut fund

Pravi Capital, the private equity firm founded by three former ICICI Venture executives, is planning to raise a $200 million fund to invest in lower- to mid-market deals in India, said Jayanta Banerjee, a founding partner at the firm.

The fund will invest across all sectors while maintaining a focus on “Indian domestic and infrastructure themes”, Banerjee said. Fundraising is expected to commence in the “last quarter of this year”, he added.

Banerjee, a former president at ICICI Ventures, left the firm in May this year along with former directors Anand Vyas and Sunay Mathure. Their departure was the second high-profile spinout at the firm, which one private equity professional recently described to sister publication PEI Asia as a training ground for Indian GPs.

The first spinout was the departure of former chief executive Renuka Ramnath to form her own firm Multiple Alternate Asset Management, which is currently more than halfway to the $450 million target set for its debut fund.

Other high-profile spinouts include MCap Fund Advisors, the private equity firm set up by former Baring Private Equity India co-founder Subbu Subramaniam, which sources told PEI Asia last week is close to securing an anchor commitment of $50 million from an undisclosed Middle Eastern LP for its maiden fund.

In May, the first Indian spin-out firm, Delhi-based CX Partners, closed its maiden fund on $515 million. The firm was established by Ajay Relan following his departure from CVCI India, the India-focused investment arm of Citigroup, in September 2008. Other partners in that venture include Ayanta Basu and Vivek Chhachhi, both formerly directors at CVCI India, and Amit Bhatiani, formerly a partner at US hedge fund Duma Capital.