New Silk Route sees no reason yet for further Indian investments

New Silk Route CEO and founding general partner, Parag Saxena, said there was no pressure on the company to invest its remaining resources and move on to the next fund.

"About raising the next fund, one would do that only when one sees a billion dollars of investment opportunities in the near-term . Only then one would rush to the market and raise money. But since neither of that is happening, there is no pressure to hurry up and invest and raise the next fund."

New Silk Route's key investments in the country include 9X Media, Coffee Day Resorts and Hotels (which manages the Cafe Coffee Day chain), Capricorn Hospitality, KS Oils, Reliance Infratel, VRL Logistics, Ascend Telecom Infrastructure and Varsity Education Management.

New Silk Route will instead focus on managing its portfolio companies and building a road map for their exit.

The New York-based private equity fund, which focuses on Asia, has made 15 investments in India totalling about $587.47 million. 

The fund has made only two investments outside India. In April, the firm announced an undisclosed investment in South India-based food chain Adigas Fast Food.

"Yes, we have invested two thirds of the fund so far but there is no good reason to go ahead and make further investments. We would rather not invest further or return capital to our investors ," Saxena said, adding that his biggest concern is the return on-capital for limited partners.

"My concern is not whether I am investing too slow or too fast," he added. The New Silk Route CEO said the fund has not decided on how much to invest in the current year. "We are continuously looking at investment opportunities in infrastructure and consumer (sectors)," Saxena said.

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