By Ashwin Manikandan
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – India must simplify rules for domestic funds investing in local companies to ensure a level-playing field with foreign peers, Renuka Ramnath, the founder and CEO of Multiples Asset Management said on Tuesday.
The Mumbai-based Multiples is one of India’s leading private equity investors. Founded in 2009 by Ramnath, Multiples has an investment portfolio that includes companies such as Delhivery and Dream 11. The firm manages around $3 billion in assets across 30 companies via four funds.
The fund plans to invest $2 billion in India’s technology sector over the next five years.
More than 90% of control transactions, or deals involving a change of ownership of a company, are currently being done by foreign funds, Ramnath, a former chairperson of Indian Venture Capital Association, said.
“(This happens) not because local funds don’t have the capability, but they don’t have the avenue to do it,” she said.
The markets regulator’s rules on co-investments by Indian funds into local companies and restrictions on Indian banks, insurance companies and pension funds from investing in local companies lead to “missed opportunities”, she said.
The regulator’s new rules for co-investments by portfolio management services, introduced in 2022, have led to complications in deal structuring and documentation, according to Ramnath.
(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Additional reporting by Haripriya Suresh and Sai Ishwarbharath B from Mumbai; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
