Airtel Backer Warburg Pincus Looks To Raise $1.5 Bn For Indian Companies

Warburg Pincus is looking to raise $1.5 Bn for its first India-focused fund. The New York-based private equity firm will target companies across industrial sectors —  financial, manufacturing and consumer. It expects to close the fund by the first half of 2020.

According to a Reuters report, Warburg Pincus has not yet finalised the launch date or the average deal size. The details will depend on the market conditions, the report added. The news of Warburg comes at a time when its rival Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) is also looking to raise $15 Bn to invest in Asian startups.

In 2019, the company closed $4.25 Bn private equity fund China-Southeast Asia II, which like the name suggests exclusively focuses on Chinese and Southeast Asian companies. The fund was announced in January 2019 and managed to cross its initial target of $3.5 bn.

Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has more than $62 Bn in assets under management. The firm focuses on segments like consumer brands, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial and business services, real estate and technology, media and telecommunications.

So far, Walburg has raised around 19 private equity funds, which have invested more than $79 Bn in more than 880 companies in more than 40 countries. In India, affiliates of private equity funds raised by Warburg Pincus have invested more than to $4 Bn in about 50 Indian companies.

Some of the Indian companies in Walburg’s portfolio includes telecom network Airtel Bharti, life insurance company IndiaFirst, retail estate platform Virgo Retail Ventures, clothing company Biba, online marketplace Quikr and education financing provider Avanse Financial Services.

In 2017, Warburg Pincus had also partnered up with former Tata Communications executive Rangu Salgame of Princeton Growth Ventures to invest and support media and telecom companies.

With this partnership, Warburg invested $300 Mn in Princeton Growth Ventures to acquire or back telecom and media assets and companies in geographies such as India, China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

This month, Alibaba’s affiliated ANT Financial is reportedly planning to raise $1 Bb to invest in Southeast Asian startups, which will also include that of India. The Chinese investment firm will focus on startups with high valuations to gain a stronghold on the emerging digital economies.