Partnering to Build Leaders of Tomorrow
Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG) is a specialist India Private Equity firm of Kotak Mahindra Group. We are leading managers of Private Equity Funds in India, focused on helping emerging corporates and mid-size enterprises evolve into tomorrow's industry leaders. KPEG provides these companies a combination of equity capital, strategic support and other value added services, playing a pro-active role with the entrepreneur in building the business.
Our private equity investments span companies across industries seeking capital for business expansions, acquisition financing and buyout transactions. The size of our initial investment is typically between USD 15mn and 40mn depending on the nature of the company's business, stage of growth and its financing requirements. We also lead transactions greater than USD 40mn through co-investment from our reputed Limited Partners, Kotak's international relationships and/or other Private Equity Funds.
While the Kotak Group has been involved in Private Equity Funds in India since 1997, to bring a sharper focus to the Group's Alternative Assets management strategy, Kotak Mahindra Bank initiated its first structured third party Private Equity Fund in early 2005. Since then, the Alternative Assets management business of the Group has grown to around USD 1.4 billion under management across two asset classes namely – Private Equity & Real Estate, both led by independent investment teams.
The Alternative Assets business currently consisting of Private Equity and Real Estate has since been restructured under Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd (“KIAL”), a subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank, set up to focus on managing the Alternative Assets business of the Kotak Group. As part of KIAL, KPEG currently manages / advises funds across two strategies – Growth Capital (India Growth Fund and Kotak India Growth Fund II) and Venture Capital for Life Sciences (Kotak India Venture Fund-I).
KPEG is led by Nitin Deshmukh, CEO - Private Equity who has put together an experienced investment team with a successful track record in venture capital / private equity investments. The other partners in the team are K.V. Ramakrishna and R. Laxman. The three partners of the Fund collectively bring in over 70 years of industry and private equity investment experience with strong deal origination and networking capabilities.
Additionally, Kotak’s India private equity firm’s investment team consists of five professionals including three Vice Presidents and two Associate Vice Presidents having varied and complimentary skill sets. All of these investment professionals have prior operating, consulting, project finance and investment experience across various industries.
Complementing the investment team is a Business Strategy team led by Vivek Joshi, who has over 17 years of operating experience in senior positions across large domestic and global organizations. This team is focused on working closely with portfolio companies to facilitate implementation of effective operational and marketing strategies.
Together, the members of KPEG combine the technical expertise, operating experience and financial acumen needed to be active investors. The team has a history of helping build companies not only with capital but also with close personal involvement as board members, advisors, strategists and fund-raisers.