Temasek Holdings Gets Sector Focused For Indian Investments

Singapore-headquartered state investment firm Temasek Holdings is ready to strengthen its Indian commitments through sector-focused investment platforms.

Rohit Sipahimalani, joint head, India, Temasek Holdings, said, “We are exploring various options for India investments, similar to the real estate and healthcare platforms we have invested in.”

Sipahimalani explained that these investments through the platforms are meant for the long-term — 10-15 years — and the firm is not looking to exit in four-five years, unlike individual PE investments.

He added, “These platforms will be looked after by our dedicated Singapore team who will be involved in operations and grow it to next level. Under these platforms, business will grow organically as well as inorganically, where we consider all buyout opportunities.”

Sipahimalani said Temasek is bullish on the consumption theme in India and its focus is sub-divided into many other areas such as healthcare services, food, QSR, financial services, and digital payments.

At present, Temasek is looking at investing 4% of total net portfolio value of $10 Bn in India. On an average, Temasek invested about $1 Bn per year in the country over the last five years.

In 2018, Temasek invested about $1.5 Bn in India, including in Asia Healthcare Holdings (AHH), a healthcare platform owned by US fund TPG.

The AHH fund has investments in Bengaluru-based Rhea Healthcare, which operates mother-and-childcare centres under the Motherhood brand, and Cancer Treatment Services International, a network of single-speciality facilities across the country.

“At present, AHH has investments in single speciality hospitals. But they may consider investments in multi-speciality hospitals and explore all kinds of opportunities,” said Sipahimalani.

The Singapore-headquartered company also owns a minority stake in large hospitals such as Manipal Hospitals, Medanta-The Medicity owned by cardiac surgeon Naresh Trehan, and Bengaluru-based cancer care hospital chain HealthCare Global Enterprises.

Last month, Temasek and Ascendas-Singbridge Group had created a $292.32 Mn (INR 2,000 Cr) platform to invest in logistics and industrial real estate in key locations across India.

In 2015, Temasek had created a venture lending platform by acquiring Mumbai-based lender SVB India Finance and renamed it to InnoVen Capital India.

At present, Temasek is exploring new segments in India. It recently forayed into manufacturing through its $2 Bn buyout of Larsen & Toubro’s electric and automation business unit along with Schneider Electric.

Some of the major investments of Temasek this year include $250 Mn in IT firm UST Global, $125 Mn in digital payment platform Pine Labs along with PayPal, and $147 Mn in AU Small Finance Bank.

It has already invested in portfolio companies such as online insurance policy aggregator PolicyBazaar, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electrical, and Online payment service provider BillDesk.

In the India-focused venture capital funds, global VC firm Lightspeed Venture Partners has closed its second India fund with a corpus of $175 Mn.

Also, Bengaluru-based early-stage venture capital firm Inventus Capital Partners marked the first close of its third fund at $29 Mn (INR 200 Cr) to invest in capital-efficient startups within the business-to-business and business-to-consumer spaces.

According to Inc42 Indian Tech Startup Funding Report H1 2018, $3 Bn was invested across 372 deals. With increased focus on different sectors by firms like Temasek, investments can be expected to speed up in H2 2018.

[The development was reported by ET.]