'Citigroup PE arm to invest $1.8 Bn in 08'

By siliconindia   |   Friday, 11 January 2008, 00:30 IST
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Mumbai: CVC International, the private equity arm of Citigroup, which invested more than a billion dollars in India last year, is planning to raise the amount for this year. "We should be able to invest at least $1.8 billion in 2008," said Ajay Relan, MD, CVC International, who also heads India operations, reported The Economic Times. PE conjures up images of ruthless leveraged buyouts that are giving to rise to regulatory concerns worldwide. But according to PR Srinivasan, who has just been made MD at CVCI, "Indian PE is totally different." "The LBO approach works in the West where business growth rates are marginal and private equity returns come from financial engineering and restructuring (restructuring is another word for 'job-losses'). In India, PE is about growth and job creation. When we invested in Suzlon four years ago, the business employed 950. Today, the company employs more than 10,000 in India and 12,000 worldwide," said Srinivasan. The growth of CVCI's investment appetite is also the story of how Indian entrepreneurs have increased the scale of their operations. According to Srinivasan. "The biggest change that we see today is that most entrepreneurs are thinking on a global scale" He gives an example of a portfolio company that raised Rs $62.5 million (250 crore) of equity financing last year