US-Based VC Firm DFJ Sells Its India Portfolio To PE Firm NewQuest Capital Partners

American venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) has sold its entire India portfolio to Hong Kong-based private equity platform NewQuest Capital Partners.

Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) was founded by Timothy C. Draper, John H.N. Fisher, and Steve Jurvetson. It is focused on early and growth-stage investments in enterprise, consumer and disruptive technologies. DFJ’s portfolio of companies include Baidu, Skype, SolarCity, Tesla Motors, Tumblr, Twitter, SpaceX, and Yammer among others.

DFJ had invested in about a dozen companies in India, with a net asset value of $60 Mn (about INR 400 Cr), through its US-based fund. DFJ has not made any fresh investments after it shut India office in 2013.

NewQuest has bought stakes in DFJ’s companies which include travel website Cleartrip, electronic-waste management firm Attero Recycling, renewable energy company Bharat Light and Power, mobile advertising firm RevX, and online photography company Canvera.

According to the sources close to the development, DFJ has sold its holding in around 8 to 10 domestic companies. These deals were typically done at “cents on the dollar”.

Mohanjit Jolly, who was the partner managing the deals for DFJ (in India), will help NewQuest manage the portfolio.

According to the experts, secondary sales are bound to increase as venture capital and private equity firms approaching ends of their typical 7-10-year investment cycles scramble to sell holdings and return money to their investors. DFJ’s portfolio sale is the third such deal in as many years by a Silicon Valley investor. In 2014, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, along with Sherpalo Ventures, sold its India portfolio of six investments to Lightbox Ventures. While, last year,

JP Morgan Asset Management bought Canaan Partners’ India portfolio for over $200 Mn (about INR1,260 Cr)

The development was first reported by ET.

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