UK-based private equity major, 3i Group Plc (?3i?) on Wednesday announced that it has raised $1.2 billion for its 3i India Infrastructure Fund, which is about 20% higher than the initial $1billion target.
The fund obtained commitments from 16 investors spread in ten countries across Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East, with 3i Infrastructure Limited – the FTSE 250 infrastructure investment company, and 3i being the largest investors and each committing $250 million to the fund.
Says Michael Queen, managing partner and head of 3i?s Infrastructure business, ?The closure of this fund, significantly above target, represents a major milestone for us and will enable projects with a capital value of up $5 billion to be completed.?
Targeting around 10 investments over the investment period, the fund?s portfolio already includes a $227-million investment in Adani Power and $101-million investment in Soma Enterprise, the company informed.
?The scale of the opportunity for infrastructure investment in India is tremendous, and our team, which combines long-standing international investment expertise with a deep local presence, is extremely well-positioned to crystallise the strong pipeline for the benefit of India, our investors, and other partners,? said Anil Ahuja, managing director and co-head of 3i?s Asian operations.
In 2007, 3i formed a strategic partnership with the Indian Government-owned India Infrastructure Finance Corporation Limited (IIFCL) to cooperate on financing infrastructure projects in India. This was one of the first such agreements between the Indian government and a third-party investor to support the estimated $450 billion of infrastructure investment that India requires by 2012.
According to experts, private equity investments in India have witnessed significant growth during 2007. PE deals have increased from $1.1 billion (60 deals) in 2004 to $2 billion (124 deals) in 2005 to $7.9 billion (302 deals) in 2006 to $19.03 billion (405 deals) in 2007. Moreover, the value of PE deals has also increased by 152% over 2007, reveals Grant Thorntons annual deal-tracker for 2007.
