We have no immediate plans for merger: Amit Varma

Interview with Managing Partner, Quadria Capital Investment Advisors

Till a week ago, Quadria Capital Investment Advisors was one among the hundreds of Asia-focused unknown private equity firms. Its recent acquisition of Milestone Religare Investment Advisors, a 50:50 joint venture between Milestone Capital and Religare, has catapulted it into the spotlight. Amit Varma, managing partner, had been involved with the Milestone Religare franchise since inception. He is also a critical care physician with two decades' practice in the US and India. He speaks to Reghu Balakrishnan on the plans of Milestone-Religare. Edited excerpts:

After buyout, what are the priorities?
The priority is to manage the current investments as the fund is now completely deployed.

We are looking at exits in the next 24 to 36 months.

We have to take stock and decide on potential future fund raises after a couple of months of stabilisation.

What are your plans?
We need to speak with all stakeholders - team and contributors - and then it will be decided. At this time, no changes are contemplated. Our current team has adequate size with four members, a good blend of seniors and juniors.

How are the portfolios and the exit plans?
Pretty much all investments are doing well, based on follow-on investments in the companies. CARE Ratings has gone for an initial public offering recently. Exits will be a mix of primary and secondary deals.

Any plans to raise new funds?
We will strategise and discuss this post-stabilisation over the next couple of months and look at the possibility of a domestic raise. We would like to stay core to healthcare, going forward.

What about Quadria's $300-million healthcare fundraising plans?
We are looking at an imminent first close and a final close in the second quarter of 2014. With regard to investments, there are four quadrants of interests - healthcare delivery, life sciences, medical technology and retail health. The investment bite size for us is $10-50 million. The geography for investments is South Asia and Southeast Asia, which does not include China.

Is there any plan to merge Milestone-Religare with Quadria?
At this time, the intention is to keep the platform separate, with independent professional teams. The Milestone-Religare team is in India and the Quadria Asia team is between Singapore and Delhi.