Motilal Oswal to raise Rs 900 cr PE by 2012-end

Initiates process for its second realty fund of Rs 550 cr

Motilal Oswal which is eyeing to raise its second private equity fund with a corpus of Rs 900 crore is looking to close the fund raise by end of calendar 2012. The company which during February 2012 announced the first closure at Rs 350 crore has by end of June 2012 raised Rs 500 crore and is looking at Rs 750 crore in the near future.

A senior official of Motilal Oswal Private Equity Advisors told Business Standard that while the initial target is indeed Rs 750 crore, they have headroom till Rs 900 crore and they decide on that sum depending on the interest in the fund by investors.  The company is looking to raise this fund in a tough situation where many a private equity fund is facing intense struggle to raise funds.  The company had earlier raised its maiden PE fund at Rs 550 crore which has been fully deployed.

Motilal Oswal Private Equity Advisors Pvt Ltd (MOPE) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd (MOFSL), a diversified financial services group with businesses in Securities, Asset Management, Private Equity and Investment Banking.

In addition to the sector agnostic PE fund, MOPE also has a good presence in the real estate, which has a corpus of Rs 200 crore which has been substantially deployed. MOPE is also in the process of raising a Rs 500 crore domestic real estate fund. The average ticket size per project is typically in the range of Rs 20–30 crore. The fund has already made six investments across asset classes.
 
Some highlights of the PE fund-raising scheme are:

1. Private Equity Growth Capital Fund for mid-market companies

• Rs 550 crore India Business Excellence Fund (IBEF)I – fully deployed
• Rs 900 crore India Business Excellence Fund (IBEF) II – in the process of raising funds

2. Real Estate Fund focusing on residential projects in metros and tier-I cities

• Rs 200 crore India Realty Excellence Fund (IREF) I – substantially deployed
• Rs 550 crore India Realty Excellence Fund (IREF) II - In the process of raising funds