Aditya Birla approaches first close on $250m mid-market fund

When Aditya Birla Private Equity Fund I was announced in January the company said that the first half of the fund's capital would come from domestic investors in India, and the remaining half from international LPs. The Birla family office made a cornerstone investment of $100m.

The fund is to focus largely on investments in infrastructure enablers, customer-facing businesses and manufacturing ancillaries, as well as some investments in the logistics, education, healthcare, media and entertainment sectors, with an average investment target of $20m to $25m per transaction, and a ceiling of $50m.

Last week, the private equity arm of India's ICICI bank completed a $250m first close of its India Advantage Series 3 fund. Like Aditya, ICICI is reportedly looking to overseas investors to raise the second half of the fund.

Aditya Birla Private Equity has already made two investments on behalf of the Birla family: in the Bombay Stock Exchange and retail chain V-Mart. Both have been transferred to the fund.

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