Tata Capital to float $350 mn private equity fund

Tata Capital, the financial services arm of the Tata Group, plans to float a $350 million private equity (PE) fund, company's Chief Financial Officer Govind Sankaranarayanan said today.

The company would infuse anchor investment in the venture through which it proposed to tap domestic and international sources for raising funds, he said here.

"It is a general purpose fund of around $350 million", he said, adding, the company has so far not decided on the sectors in which it would invest.

A special private equity team has been put in place and it would embark on road-shows in the next few months, as part of efforts to raise funds.

Asked as to when would the fund be in place, the CFO said: "We hope that it's not more than two quarters away."

Pointing that Tata Capital is well-placed in the private equity investment space, Sankaranarayanan said in view of the Tata Group's deep involvement across different sectors, they come across good investment opportunities quite frequently.

Tata Capital has also applied to National Housing Board to start home loan business, Sankaranarayanan said, adding the firm is already in home equity business lending money against the homes owned by people in five cities. It would be ramped up to 20-30 cities very soon, he said.