Sabre Capital may launch $1 bn fund

Sabre Capital Worldwide Inc, which had earlier set up an India-specific $350 million dollar private equity fund, today said it may launch a new $1 billion dollar fund within a year.

The company has already raised $50 million, of the $350 million dollar fund. The second and final tranche of capital, which will include the entire balance amount, will be raised by February, Sabre chairman Rana Talwar said here.

Christened Sabre Abraaj, the fund has already made an investment of $16 million in an unlisted mid-sized infrastructure company based in Hyderabad, he told reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI Capital Markets Conference here.

"We would be looking at mid-level corporates and invest in the range of $15-50 million and in 9-12 months, we could also look at launching a$1-billion fund," he said.

About 50-60 per cent of the investors in the fund are from the Middle-East, while the others hail from Europe, the US and East Asia, Talwar said.

Though there is a 10-year commitment for investments, "we hope to give returns within four years," Talwar said. The aim of the fund was to give at least two-three times returns to investors, he said.