Power Trading Corporation (PTC) India Ltd has decided on UK's Ashmore Investment Management Ltd as joint venture partner for its private equity foray. In a filing with the stock exchanges, PTC said, it had raised Rs 500 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) in May for setting up a third party fund.
Though the fund size was not disclosed, earlier reports have put the target as anywhere between $500 million and $1 billion.
PTC Chairman and Managing Director T N Thakur told Reuters in May that the fund will take a 20-30% stake in private power projects, and will also sell power through PTC's power trading facilities.
Ashmore, which manages assets across emerging markets, already has a presence in India. It has investments in companies like Broadband Pacenet and Quality Care India. It also operates the $80-million Alchemy Ashmore, a joint venture with Alchemy Partners LLP. This fund has investments in apparel retail firm Numero Uno Clothing and Kerala-based NBFC Manappuram Group. As on September 30, 2009, Ashmore manages $31.1 billion across various funds.
India's power sector has been high on the radar of PE investors and has also led the fund-raising pack in the capital markets. In a major deal recently, Hyderabad-based Ind-Barath Power Infra Ltd raised $100 million from Sequoia Capital India, Bessemer Venture Partners and Citi Venture Capital International last month. Other major deals this year include IDFC Project Equity’s $70-million investment in Essar Power and $78-million pre-IPO investment by Capital International and 3i Group in Adani Power.
