India-dedicated private equity fund NYLIM Jacob Ballas India Fund III has raised total commitments of $440 million for its third fund. The fund's anchor investor remains New York Life Investment Management, and has invested a significant portion in this fund also. Many of Jacob Ballas' existing investors have also returned in this fund.
Delhi-based Jacob Ballas Capital India Pvt Ltd, registered as an NBFC (non- banking finance company), now manages $600 million of capital across three funds. The fund's limited partners are from the US, Middle East, Japan, Europe and Asia ex-Japan.
Jacob Ballas is also a partner for Vanterra Capital in India. Vanterra is a fund of funds which recently raised $152 million. Jacob Ballas, a private equity fund based out of New Delhi, has closed 18 investments since its formation in 1995.
The fundraising market is getting tough as typical limited partners like pension funds and endowments, which account for a major chunk in the alternative investment markets, are scaling back their investments. The close of Jacob Ballas comes after Actis closed its emerging markets fund at $2.9 billion, from which $1 billion will be invested in India over a period of 3-4 years. Recently, Mayfield also announced a close of $110 million India-focused fund.
"Fund III's successful closure underscores the long term investment potential in India despite unprecedented turmoil in global financial markets this year. About 85% of fund III's investors are financial institutions, sovereign funds, pension funds and funds of funds, while 15% comprise reputable family offices and private investors," said Rajan Jetley, Chairman of JBC, in a release.
"Apart from providing growth capital, an investment by the fund typically assists CEOs to differentiate their competitive proposition, open up new business relationships and systematically target local, regional or global market leadership in their industry segments through either organic or inorganic growth," said Srinivas Chidambaram, Managing Director of JBC, in a release.
Previous investments of Jacob Ballas include Aster Teleservices, Mahindra Holidays and Resorts and Saravana Global Energy.
NYLIM has previously launched New York Life International India Fund I with of size of $40 million and New York Life Investment Management India Fund II with size of $127 million. They have invested in Bharti Airtel, Reliance Energy, Punj Llyod, Avesthagen and Thomson Press among others.
