Kuwait govt's arm invests in Renuka Ramnath's PE fund

Multiples Alternate Asset Management, a private equity (PE) fund founded by Renuka Ramnath, the former CEO of ICICI Venture, has received Rs 325 crore ($70 million) for its offshore fund from the Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS) — a pension fund run by the Government of Kuwait. With this fund, Multiples has achieved a corpus of more than $425 million. It is targeting a size of $450 million.

In March, the government-run Canada Pension Plan Investment Board made an anchor investment of $100 million into the fund. In July, CDC Group, a UK-based development finance institution, committed $30 million. Its first sector-agnostic fund will focus on sectors like financial services, healthcare, infrastructure and retail, with a typical deal size of $20-30 million. Though the size of PIFSS is not known, it is one of the largest pension funds in West Asia.

MD& CEO Renuka Ramnath did not respond to text messages and mail sent to her.

The firm is raising funds from international and Indian investors alike. Domestic investors include Andhra Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Punjab National Bank and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi).

Multiples’ team comprises MD & CFO Prakash Nene (former group director, Bharti Enterprises), Investment Director Sudhir Variyar (former senior director, ICICI Venture) and Investment Principal Nithya Easwaran (former head of private financing, Citibank).

Charles Daugherty, managing partner, Stanwich Advisors, a US-based placement agency which helps general partners (fund managers) raise funds abroad, said, “Though Middle Eastern Limited Partners (investors), represented primarily by high net worth individuals, family offices and sovereign wealth funds, significantly decreased their investments to PE funds following the financial crisis, the region has been a large source of capital for private equity in recent years. The interest in India and emerging markets in general has increased.”

Last year, the PE industry saw veterans at key positions going solo with their fund-raising plans.

Among them, only a few could successfully raise the targeted fund. Ajay Relan, who left Citgroup Venture Capital International to form CX partners, raised $515 million last year. Others included former Baring PE partner Subbu Subramaniam, who set up MCap Advisors, former Warburg Pincus MD Rajesh Khanna, who set up Arka Capital, and ex-ICICI Venture director Jayanta Banerjee, who floated Pravi Capital, a $200-million fund.