Apax Partners Eyeing To Scale Up Its India Investments With New Team

London-based private equity firm Apax Partners, which has invested close to $3.5 Bn in India in around two decades, is reportedly planning to ramp up its local investments across domestic pharmaceuticals, consumer, and consumer derivative markets.

As per ET’s report, Apax has built an India-focused team to scout buyout opportunities and is also working on multiple deals at different stages across sectors.

“All the live deals that are out there, and several of those that we are chasing are across pharma, consumer and consumer derivative spaces. And there are multiple deals in tech services that are expected to get launched, which we are spending time on,” the report said, quoting Rohan Haldea, partner in the tech team at Apax, as saying.

Haldea further said Apax is now looking to acquire a controlling stake in Indian companies that it finds lucrative. Besides, the firm is also open to partnerships with founders and management teams in minority settings.

Inc42 has reached out to Apax Partners for a comment on the development. The story will be updated based on the responses.

It is pertinent to note that Apax has been reshuffling its top leadership roles for quite some time now.

Two months back, Leo Puri was appointed as an advisor to Apax Partners and chairman of its Indian arm.

In July last year, Shashank Singh stepped down as partner and head of Apax’s India office.

Prior to that, in 2022, the PE firm appointed Anurag Sud to lead and manage its day-to-day India operations. 

“I think we’ve now got the infrastructure and the team that we believe can deploy capital. And we can start doing deals again pretty quickly and we’ve got a pretty big pipeline,” Haldea added.

Meanwhile, Apax Partners sold 99.8% of its stake in Bengaluru-based medical devices company Healthium Medtech Ltd to KKR.

The last time Apax invested in India was back in May 2023, when it acquired a minority stake in IBS Software for nearly $450 Mn.

Among other Indian firms that Apax has backed include Azentio Software, Infogain, Global Logic, Zensar, Fractal Analytics, Healthium, and Apollo Hospitals.

Apax channels 7-10% of its total global fund towards India. The firm marked the closure of its 11th global buyout fund, Apax XI, in March 2024 at more than $12 Bn.

Apart from that, it raised a digital fund worth $1.95 Bn and a global impact fund amounting to $877 Mn last year, which will also deploy funding in India, besides the buyout fund.

The development comes at a time when several PE funds are doubling down on their investments in India.

Recently, Kedaara Capital marked the final close of its fourth fund at a staggering $1.73 Bn, in what is touted to be India’s largest PE fund so far.

In February, D2C jewellery brand Kushal’s bagged $34 Mn in funding from Lighthouse’s fourth alternative investment fund (AIF).