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With $1 Bn corpus, PremjiInvest plays VC, PE, stockmarket game
By siliconindia
Bangalore: Wipro's investment firm has been operating since 2006, funded around 40 publicly listed and private companies out of a corpus of $1 billion (Rs4,290 crore), reported Livemint. Yet, its operations are shrouded in secrecy and the firm has consciously avoided building a public profile.
Wipro's chairman routes all his non-Wipro investments through Premji Invest (PI). Premji, who had a 79.45 percent stake in Wipro on 31 March has, through PI, invested in several listed firms such as ABG Shipyard, Dish TV India, JM Financial, Marico, Shoppers Stop, Koutons and Today's Writing Products. PI has also invested in private firms such as HealthCare Global Enterprises.
PI's investment focus is broader. The company invests in listed firms and debt but it also sees itself as a venture capital and private equity firm that makes both early stage and late-stage investments.
PI seeks to play in them providing guidance to companies and managements to create a scalable business and helping them build systems and processes, and finally, execute their plans.
PI has autonomy to pick its investments. Although Premji does contribute to investment decisions, but "not on an everyday basis". PI's Chief Investment Officer Prakash Parthasarathy adds, makes small and large investments, is sector-agnostic, looks for opportunities in sectors where Wipro is not present, and makes the final investment decision on the basis of the market opportunity and the management team of the company being evaluated for an investment.
Over the past few months, PI has invested in companies in sectors such as textiles, healthcare, and hospitality. "We will not invest in IT services, to avoid conflict of interests," says Parthasarathy. And PI finds sectors such as financial services, consumer care and industrial products attractive
The firm's latest investment, announced in May, was in HealthCare Global, an oncology care chain, in which it invested $20 million for a "significant minority stake". PI has a team of 12 people who identify investment opportunities and monitor investments.
Being an "evergreen" fund, or one that operates without a pre-set time period or limits, PI does not need to raise funds. Its source of funds is Azim Premji. Last year alone, his stake in Wipro yielded a dividend of Rs 696 crore. PI also plans to look at overseas investment opportunities.
