Yes Bank floats $100 m agro fund

Yes Bank has launched a $100 million food and agribusiness India fund. The private equity fund plans to invest the entire amount in the next 1-2 years, with an investment between $5 million and $7.5 million per company. It is targeting average annualised returns between 20 per cent and 25 per cent.

The bank is in talks with 10 investors, including insurance companies, bilateral institutions and commercial banks who have expressed an interest in contributing to the corpus.

The fund will invest in companies operating in fruits and vegetables such as grain-based products, milk and milk-based products, poultry, spirits and beer, tea and coffee, confectionery, farm seeds, food services, food retail, food logistics and agri-infrastructure, including agri-market and cold storages sectors.

Rana Kapoor, managing director and chief executive officer, Yes Bank said, "We are confident of building a diversified portfolio of 10-15 investments across the food and agribusiness sector in the next 1- 2 years. We have a fair pipeline and the fund will begin investing by September end."

The bank will support the fund in deal sourcing, supporting investee companies' growth plans through debt facilities, syndication, mergers and acquisitions, and advisory support to facilitate business expansion.

It will also play an active role in facilitating exit from investments through appropriate routes such as financial or strategic sale and initial public offering.