Multiples PE Plans To Pursue Big-Ticket Investments: Renuka Ramnath

After backing 30 Indian companies from its first three funds, home-grown private equity major Multiples Alternate Asset Management, or Multiples PE, on Wednesday marked the first close of its fourth fund at USD 640 million.

The firm looks to ramp up investments in domestic companies with Fund IV, and the first tranche of this fund is equal to the size of the third fund, which was raised in 2019 for USD 640 million.

“As a team, we are excited about the prospects of participating in the breakthrough growth which India presents in the coming decade combined with the entrepreneurial spirit that will be unleashed while growing in tandem with it,” shared the Multiples PE’s Founder, MD and CEO Renuka Ramnath with Entrepreneur India.

“Going forward, we plan to pursue big-ticket investments via the co-investment model, with a cumulative investment target of over USD 1.5 billion in the coming three to four years through Fund IV,” Ramnath said.

The firm is targeting a corpus of USD 800 million in Fund IV with a hard cap of USD 1 billion, she added.

As per Renuka, over the last 12 years, Multiples has built a deep specialization in its chosen sectors of financial services, pharma and healthcare, consumer/consumer tech, and enterprise technology. “To this, we have further expanded our sector focus on the green economy, as demonstrated by our recent investment in TI Clean Mobility,” she highlighted.

Multiples PE portfolio also contains a number of unicorns with a valuation of at least USD 1 billion, including Delhivery, Acko, and Licious.

Ramnath recently commented on billion-dollar startups in technology and emphasized that “don’t chase valuations, chase purpose.” “You are not a better entrepreneur if your company has a higher valuation than other companies, but if you solve real problems and take away real pain from people, you are an entrepreneur worthy of a salute from every Indian,” she mentioned.

For its Fund IV, Multiples brings together a combination of global institutional investors like The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and International Finance Corporation (IFC), local institutions like the State Bank of India (SBI) and private insurance companies, and domestic family offices.

“This fundraise is yet another important milestone for providing wings to the dreams and aspirations of entrepreneurs,” according to Sudhir Variyar, MD and Deputy CEO, Multiples Alternate Asset Management.

Over the last decade, Multiples claims to have built specialization in three main strategies: identifying largely tech-led big shifts and investing in them at their inflection point, catalyzing transformative growth, and investing in platforms for multi-decadal growth potential.

As per the company, this approach has enabled it to deliver exceptional performance across industries and timeframes.

A USD 3 billion fund is managed by the Mumbai-based PE firm, which has also made investments in numerous other companies, including PVR Cinemas, Dream 11, Niyo, MoEngage, Encube, Zenex, Quantiphi, and Vastu Housing Finance. Its first wager in the electric vehicle market was on TI Clean Mobility, a company owned by the Murugappa group.

In 2017, Multiples closed its second fund, which had a USD 555 million total value. Its inaugural fund, with a USD 405 million corpus, was introduced in 2011. It supported 11 companies each from Fund I and II, and Fund III made investments in eight enterprises.

In spite of macroeconomic challenges, a number of PE firms have started their fundraising efforts. It is also believed that Siddharth Parekh, the younger son of Deepak Parekh, head of HDFC, India’s largest mortgage lender, and serial entrepreneur Sumeet Nindrajog recently closed their second fund for Paragon Partners at INR 700 crore (USD 85.37 million).

Last month, the second investment vehicle of mid-market PE firm Amicus Capital Partners, which has backed firms like online insurance platform RenewBuy, Capital Small Finance Bank, and Berar Finance, reached its first close at USD 75-100 million (INR 600-800 crore).

The PE major reportedly has USD 200 million in mind for the vehicle as it seeks to boost investments in quickly expanding industries like financial services, consumer goods, healthcare, technology, and business services.

Rockstud Capital, 8i Ventures, Lighthouse Canton, Investcorp India, and Accel are a few others looking to raise money.