Investcorp reveals massive expansion plans in India

Creative Commons/Pippa Ranger

• Firm has sealed 15 investments in the region worth $1bn since 2019
• ‘Achievable’ ambition to get to $5bn by 2028
• Opportunities include healthcare, social infrastructure and IT services

Bahrain-based Investcorp has vowed to grow the size of its business in India five-fold in the next five years.

The alternative investments firm, which managed $50 billion in assets as of December 2022, only entered India in the first quarter of 2019, but has since completed 15 investments worth $1 billion.

Speaking from the company’s India office, co-CEO Rishi Kapoor told AGBI that the country has been its “most active investment market” and is “probably one of the most attractive larger economies on the horizon today”.

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“Our ambition over the next five years is to get to $5 billion,” he said.

“We are looking to quintuple the size of our footprint in India and frankly the size of the underlying market, its maturity level and the opportunities that we see within it, makes that achievable.”

Rising interest in the south Asian sub-continent, from both global and domestic investors, dovetails with India’s economy overtaking the UK this year in terms of size.

It is now the fifth largest economy, according to the latest figures from the International Monetary Fund and is expected to become the fourth largest economy by 2027. Just a decade ago, Indian GDP was the eleventh largest in the world.

Kapoor revealed that Investcorp will be focusing particularly on the growth of the middle class in the country, which he said is already “larger than the entire population of the US”.

Kapoor said that Investcorp is identifying opportunities in healthcare, tech-enabled platforms catering to the end consumer, the country’s logistics sector, social infrastructure and IT services.

“Much like China has been known as the manufacturing hub of the world, India has been the IT hub of the world. IT services is a fast-growing space,” he said.

Investments over the last four years by Investcorp include Intergrow Brands, Freshtohome, Zolostays, InCred, Global Dental Services Limited, Unilog, Xpressbees and Wingreens.

Investcorp sold its stake in ASG Eye Hospital, the second largest eye care hospital chain in India, to General Atlantic and Kedaara Capital in September last year.

“On the surface it might seem like an aspirational ask to quintuple, but the depth of the market and our presence and track record over there puts us in a solid position to pursue that objective,” he said.

Earlier this month Investcorp, which has among its shareholders Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Co, revealed it is working on multiple initiatives in Indonesia, including one in partnership with the nation’s sovereign wealth fund as it seeks to expand its footprint in southeast Asia.

“Regionally it is clear that Asia is on a generally solid foundation from a growth perspective, in terms of a macro outlook,” Kapoor said.