Hedge fund Monsoon Capital to launch India-specific plan

Monsoon Capital, a US hedge fund, is launching its first India specific fund in another two months' time. The fund will have an initial capital of $10 million which will be stepped up as investments grow.

The Monsoon Capital MD, Gautam Prakash, who was in Bangalore on Thursday as part of The Indus Entrepreuner (TiE) delegation to India said: "The Monsoon India Inflection Fund will invest in Indian publicly traded companies in the $20 million - $1 billion market cap range. The fund will take a private equity-like view such as fundamental research, deep due diligence, medium-term outlook and look for growth companies with a value bias."

He further added that Monsoon Capital will own and manage a variety of funds in public equity, arbitrage, real estate, distressed equity/debt, and private equity.

"Each fund will have a dedicated, on-the-ground team in India that drives the investment process and portfolio management."

The fund will be looking at growth sectors in India such as manufacturing, retail and also some segments of information technology.

Commenting on the TiE delegation to India, he said: "This delegation is basically from the East Coast based out of Boston and we manage companies worth $10 billion in market cap. This is the third TiE delegation to India during this year and we are looking at around 11 companies to invest in."