Private Equity - Kotak - India

INTRODUCTION
Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG) is a specialist Private Equity arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank. We are a leading Private Equity Fund Manager 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.

We invest in companies across a broad range of industries seeking capital for business expansions, acquisition financing and buyout transactions. The size of our initial investment is typically between USD 10 mn and 30 mn depending on the nature of the company's business, stage of growth and its financing requirements. We also lead transactions greater than USD 30 mn through co-investment from our reputed Limited Partners, Kotak's international relationships and/or other Private Equity Funds.

While the Kotak Group has been associated with Private Equity investments since 1997, to bring a sharper focus to the Group's Alternate Assets strategy, Kotak Mahindra Bank initiated its first structured third party Private Equity Fund in early 2005. Since then, the Alternate Assets business of the Group has grown to over USD 1.0 billion under management across two asset classes namely – Private Equity & Real Estate, both led by independent investment teams.

The Alternate 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 exclusively on managing the Alternate Assets business of the Kotak Group. As part of KIAL, KPEG currently manages / advises two funds across two strategies – Growth Capital (India Growth Fund) and Venture Capital for Life Sciences (Kotak India Venture Fund – I).

KPEG is led by Nitin Deshmukh, Group Head - 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 Vamesh Chovatia. The three partners of the Fund collectively bring in over 55 years of industry and private equity investment experience with strong deal origination and networking capabilities.

Additionally, the 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.



Investment Team

Nitin Deshmukh, Head - Private Equity
nitin.deshmukh@kotak.com

Ramakrishna K. V.
ramakrishna.kv@kotak.com

Vamesh Chovatia
vamesh.chovatia@kotak.com

Satish Kumar Chaluvadi
satish.chaluvadi@kotak.com

Shrikant Bahadkar
shrikant.bahadkar@kotak.com

Vivek Joshi
vivekn.joshi@kotak.com

http://www.kotak.com/Kotak_GroupSite/groupcos/pvt_invt_team.htm