Blackstone Considering Infrastructure Fund

Blackstone is considering an infrastructure fund, as the industry and the companies that serve it offer excellent value, particularly in India.

Akhil Gupta, chairman of Blackstone India, said he expected it would be three months or so before the firm would be ready to deploy funds, and was bullish on the infrastructure sector's prospects in India, which is desperate for new road, water, and energy projects.

“We are thinking of raising an infrastructure fund ourselves,” Gupta said, though he cautioned that plans were very preliminary and only in discussion phase.

“Infrastructure stocks have come to a point they are valuable but we need to be cautious,” he said. “I think we have got to wait for another three months to see how it unfolds.”

Challenges facing India's infrastructure sector are reflected in prices, said Gupta, who before joining Blackstone in 2005 held senior positions at India's leading private sector firm, Reliance Industries. The Mumbai office was the New York private equity giant's first entry into Asia.

One investment he mentioned was the $65 mn Blackstone paid for a minority stake last November in Indian engineering firm MTAR Technologies Pvt Ltd.

Blackstone has announced 7 deals in India worth $1 bn so far. Two of the deals were majority stake purchases.

In February, it paid $85 mn for a 10.4% stake in Allcargo Global Logistics. Blackstone paid $150 mn for a 12.5% stake in Nagarjuna Construction in Aug 2007.

Source : Reuter

Previous Article

FinMin Proposes Branch Expansion Without RBI Licence

Next Article

Sheth Creators Raises R80Cr From IIFL PE