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.
Subscribe to receive the newsletter every week in your inbox!
Stay tuned, Stay ahead!
KEY DEALS
Equity
[Exit] Elevation Capital, a domestic VC firm, sold its remaining stake in National Stock Exchange for c.$200 million in a secondary market transaction. The firm first invested $115 million in NSE in 2007 and has harvested c.$600 million across multiple tranches (translating to c.20% IRR). (January 19, 2024)
ICICI Ventures and Mirabilis Investment Trust, invested in Pritam International, a cosmetic and pharmaceutical manufacturing company. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. (January 19, 2024)
SAEL Limited raised c.$1 billion led by US DFC and Norfund, a Norwegian government-owned fund. (January 18, 2024)
KKR acquired 12 highway assets from PNC InfraTech, a construction engineering company, for c.$1 billion via Highway Infrastructure Trust, its majorly-owned infrastructure investment trust. (January 16, 2024)
Wow! Momo, a fast food delivery and restaurant company, raised c.$50 million led by Khazanah, a sovereign wealth fund of Malaysia, and OAKS Asset Management, a domestic investment manager. (January 16, 2024)
Credit Deals and Issuances
SBI raised c.$625 million through issuance of additional tier-1 (AT-1) bonds at c.8%. SBI's bond issuance received 100+ bids worth c.$660 million, translating into oversubscription of 2.5x vs the base size of c.$250 million. (January 19, 2024)
Tata Consumer to raise c.$440 million through the issuance and allotment of commercial papers. The funds will be used for the acquisition of Capital Foods and Organic India. (January 19, 2024)
Shriram Finance raised c.$750 million through issuance of bonds at c.7%. The transaction reached a near-record orderbook of c.$3 billion, marking it as one of the biggest high-yield issuances from India. (January 17, 2024)
Bank of Baroda is looking to raise c.$625 million via issuance of 10-year infra bonds. (January 16, 2024)
KEY FUNDS AND FUNDRAISES
Amicus Capital, a mid-market private equity firm, marked the first close of its second domestic fund at c.$145 million. The fund has a target corpus of c.$200 million and will invest $10-30 million each in 10-12 middle market companies across multiple sectors. (January 17, 2024)
MARKET INSIGHTS & RESEARCH
Articles
India's Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes have attracted investments worth c.$13 billion (as of November 2023), generating over $100 billion in sales and creating c.680k jobs. Exports surpassed c.$40 billion, led by electronics, pharmaceuticals, and telecom. Of the 750 approved applications, 176 are MSMEs, and c.$550 million in incentives have been disbursed across eight sectors. Read more.
India's manufacturing sector is being transformed to reach a $10 trillion economy goal, with the PLI scheme significantly enhancing manufacturing and attracting international firms. To spur further innovation, extending PLI benefits to R&D and introducing dedicated PLI schemes for the chemicals and space sectors are suggested to bolster growth in these areas. Read more.
India's total debt rose to 89.5% of GDP in 2020-21 driven by COVID-19 which further decreased marginally to 86.5% of GDP in 2022-23 but is projected to stabilize just below 85% over the next three years. Reducing this debt is essential for improving India's credit rating and crucial for accessing cheaper finance. Read more.
India aims to attract $100 billion annually in FDI in the coming years, at an expected 6-8% growth over the next decade with a focus on infrastructure investment, uplifting the population's lower segments, enhancing manufacturing, and simplifying business processes. Read more.
Since 2014, India's dynamic growth has drawn significant global interest, with its GDP growth exceeding 7% in 2022-23 despite global geopolitical challenges. Ranking 3rd in the world in GDP by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), India's strong domestic purchasing power indicates a comfortable cost of living, comparable to major economies like the US and China. If India maintains a 6-7% growth rate, it could approach the US economy's size in PPP terms within a few decades. Read more.
Despite being the most populous country with the fourth-largest military and military spending, India has been slow to involve private participation in its defense sector. It wasn't until 2001 that India, spending 2% of its GDP on defense, began allowing private companies to engage in defense equipment and platform manufacturing, driven by the need for modernization and innovation. It will be critical to see the role played by AIFs in boosting the investments in the defense sector. Read more.
Reports
As per Goldman Sachs’ ‘The rise of Affluent India’ report, by 2027, India's affluent class is projected to reach 100 million. The number of people in ‘Affluent India’ has been growing by a double digit CAGR over FY19-23, vs overall population CAGR in India of ~1%. The rise is driven by strong economic growth, stable policies, and high credit growth, with affluent Indians more than doubling since 2015. India's rising middle-class spending power is boosting consumer sectors amidst a significant increase in financial and physical assets.
India Tech Unicorn & Exits report by Orios Venture Partners provides a detailed overview of the Indian Unicorn landscape. In 2023, Indian startups raised $8.2 billion, a 72% drop vs 2022's $25 billion, indicating a shift from prioritizing growth at any cost. Despite this, 23 Unicorns became profitable, gearing up for IPOs, with India maintaining its rank as the third-largest Unicorn hub and reducing the average time to achieve Unicorn status to 5.5 years.
The ‘Ayodhya – Unlocking India’s tourism potential’ report by Jefferies lays out the impact of the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on economy and tourism, as it is expected to become India’s new tourist destination attracting 50+ million visitors annually. Supported by a $10 billion development, this project is set to boost multiple sectors like hospitality, infra, FMCG, and construction. India's tourism sector is expected to reach $443 billion by FY33 vs $194 billion in FY19.
RBI's State of the Economy report: The Indian economy is on track to maintain its growth in 2024; a slow rural revival and moderate private consumption growth highlight the need to control inflation to ensure inclusive growth. The report outlines key measures such as strengthening financial institutions' balance sheets, continuing fiscal and external balance consolidation, and leveraging technological advancements for inclusive growth. Achieving a 7% GDP growth in FY25 hinges on aligning inflation with the 4% target by the second quarter of FY25. Read more.
Inc42’s Indian Startup FY23 Financials Tracker details that in FY23, 110+ Indian new-age tech companies generated a total operating revenue of $30+ billion, while c.80 of these companies reported a combined loss of $7 billion. [Paywall]
Sector views: Some quick takeaways and insights on auto sector in India including two-wheelers; passenger vehicles; commercial vehicles and tractors.
KPIs
The total corpus under the National Pension System and Atal Pension Yojana crossed $137 billion in January 2024, with a significant growth in just over four months. The private sector's AUM also surpassed $25 billion, and the PFRDA is focused on developing a minimum assured pension plan.
For the third consecutive year, India's gross tax collections in 2023-24 are expected to grow at a double-digit rate, exceeding expectations with a nearly 15% increase in the first eight months compared to the same period in 2022, surpassing the budget estimate of 10.4% growth.
India is hoping to become a developed country by 2047 and expects to become a $10 trillion economy by 2034. India's economy swiftly recovered from the COVID-19 downturn, exceeding GDP expectations and leading economists to revise their forecasts upwards. Looking forward, the government aims to develop the economy by 2047, requiring extensive economic and social reforms to significantly increase the current per capita income of c.$2,500.
Climate change may reduce labor productivity in countries like India to as low as 40%, posing a threat to global food production. This reduction in physical work capacity, also affecting regions in Southeast and South Asia, Africa, and South America, is expected to exacerbate food security issues by decreasing crop yields.
Below is a quick snapshot of the services sector performance from the latest RBI bulletin January 2024.
ICYMI
The state of Maharashtra signed MoUs worth c.$44 billion at the World Economic Forum 2024 in Davos, with the potential to create over 200 million jobs.
NHAI anticipates exceeding asset monetization of $12+ billion by the close of FY2024, aiming to achieve a record high of around $5 billion, the most substantial revenue since FY2018-19.
WEEKLY MARKET UPDATE (w/c January 15, 2024)
Thank you for reading India In Sight!
Read our other editions here.
Disclaimer:
The content provided on this platform contains references and links to external sources, including articles, reports, websites, images, or videos. We do not own or claim copyright over the content found in these external sources. The ownership and rights of the content belong to the original creators.
This post and the information presented are intended for informational purposes only. The views expressed herein are the author’s alone and do not constitute an offer to sell, or a recommendation to purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, nor a recommendation for any investment product or service. While certain information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, neither the author nor any of his employers or their affiliates have independently verified this information, and its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Accordingly, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, timeliness or completeness of this information. The author and affiliated persons and companies assume no liability for this information and no obligation to update the information or analysis contained herein in the future.