India In Sight #30
India In Sight #30
Weekly updates on Indian private markets
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We are Ambassador Capital Partners, an investment firm with a focus on private credit and private equity. Deeply embedded in the private markets ecosystem, ACP works with large global institutions to provide creative capital solutions for companies and asset managers.
In the spirit of making Indian private markets more accessible and transparent to global LPs and GPs, we have launched ‘India In Sight’ – consolidating and curating relevant information and insights from Indian private markets including trends, key deals, fundraises, KPIs and top tier research.
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KEY DEALS
Equity
Data Infrastructure Trust, an infrastructure investment trust sponsored by Brookfield, acquired the Indian operations and assets of American Tower Corp, a global provider of digital communications infrastructure, for c.$2.5 billion. (January 05, 2024)
Credit
Matrix Laboratories, an Indian pharma company, to raise capital from Kotak’s special situations fund, to finance the acquisition of the Indian API business of Viatris, a global pharma company. The financial details were not disclosed. (January 03, 2024)
Vedanta Ltd, an Indian diversified conglomerate, raised c.$425 million in debt at 12% for 18 months from Oaktree Capital, secured by 100% of Sesa Iron and Steel shares, as it looks to refinance $1 billion of bonds maturing in Jan 2024. (December 23, 2023)
Other Credit Deals and Issuances
State Bank of India raised c.$250 million (SOFR + 1.2%) through issuance of senior, unsecured, green bonds in a private placement through its London branch. SBI is also looking to raise c.$625 million through issuance of AT-1 bonds at c.8%; Adani Ports to raise c.$600 million via NCDs - it will raise c.$60 million through issuance of 2 sets of NCDs at c.9% in Jan 2024; Muthoot Finance is looking to raise c.$125 million through issuance of redeemable AA+ rated NCDs at c.9%; Power Grid is looking to raise c.$275 million through issuance of bonds.
December 2023 Roundup - Key Deals
KEY FUNDS AND FUNDRAISES
Investcorp, a Bahrain-based alternate investment firm, is launching a new India-focused warehousing fund, with a target to invest c.$100 million in the sector. (January 04, 2024)
Neo Asset Management, a domestic infrastructure focused fund, is looking to raise c.$240 million for its current fund and is aiming to mark the final close by August 2024. The fund marked its first close in October 2023. (December 27, 2023)
December 2023 Roundup - Key Funds
MARKET INSIGHTS & RESEARCH
Articles
In 2023, India's PE/VC investments declined by 40% to $28 billion (c.700 deals) vs $48 billion in 2022 (c.1,360 deals), while outflows increased to $19 billion vs $18 billion in 2022; However, a funding resurgence is anticipated in the next year. Read more.
2023 marked a record in Indian market history with c.80 companies experiencing PE/VC exits totaling $12 billion, led by financials sector at 45% of exits, with major departures in Paytm, Coforge, and Mankind. 2023 also saw the second-highest number of mainboard IPOs in over a decade with 55+ Indian companies collectively raising $6+ billion. Read more.
In 2023, institutional investments in Indian real estate hit a high of $5.4 billion, a 10% increase yoy, with the office sector contributing 56% and signaling sustained global and domestic investor confidence despite broader market uncertainties. Read more.
With $20 billion ready for investment in Indian startups, Indian venture capitalists are primarily focused on AI, aiming to tackle global corporate challenges. Indian AI market could reach $50+ billion over next two decades. Read more.
Reports
As per Bain’s Global Healthcare PE report, India's healthcare sector saw increased deal activity in 2023, driven by a boom in healthcare spending and robust pharma sector, surpassing China in 2022 and leading the Asia Pacific region in 2023, with 20+ healthcare deals amounting to $4.6 billion. India is expected to continue doing well in the space in 2024 as well. Read more.
The 2024 Outlook report by Pantomath outlines that as one of the top performers in the past two years, the Indian equity market hit record highs in 2023 with the Nifty and Sensex reaching 21,000 and 70,000, respectively, and saw domestic SIP inflows reach $1.6 billion in FY23, expected to rise to $1.9 billion in FY24. Indian AIFs invested $2.1 billion in 900+ startups. Read more.
As per the Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2023 by Inc42, total funding in the Indian tech startups reached $10+ billion in 2023, down 60% vs 2022 and 76% vs 2021 peak. Investor participation also saw a 37% decline with 1,500+ startup investors involved in 2023 vs 2,400+ in 2022.
KPIs
As India prepares for its FY25 interim budget in February 2024 targeting 7% growth amid global instability, the focus will be on FY24's revised data for strategic planning, with an emphasis on capital expenditure and fiscal measures for sustainable medium-term growth.
India's current account deficit shrank to $8.3 billion or 1% of GDP in Q2 FY23-24 (July-Sep), down from $9.2 billion in the previous quarter, driven by reduced merchandise trade deficit of $61 billion during the period vs $78 billion a year ago.
ICYMI
Gujarat secured investment agreements totaling c.$86 billion with 58 firms, including oil majors like HPCL and IOCL, as part of its 10th Vibrant Gujarat Summit, which also saw 234 MoUs in 17 phases, projecting c.$128 billion of potential investment.
WEEKLY MARKET UPDATE (w/c January 01, 2024)
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