New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- Homegrown private equity firm Gaja Capital, which counts artificial intelligence and data analytics company Fractal Analytics and logistics firm Xpressbees among its portfolio companies, is aiming for a valuation of Rs 2,256 crore ($237 million) for its parent entity in its initial public offering that is set to open for subscription next week.
Gaja Alternative Asset Management, which was incorporated in 1999 but started its operations as an investment firm focussing on mid-market Indian growth businesses as 'Gaja Capital' in 2004, has set the price band of Rs 152-160 per equity share for its IPO.
The company had filed its preliminary IPO papers via the confidential route in July last year and received approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in October 2025.
According to its red herring prospectus (RHP), Gaja is planning a Rs 550 crore (around $58 million) IPO, including a primary issue of Rs 450 crore (around $47 million) and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of Rs 100 crore. Previously, it had planned a public offering of Rs 656 crore with a primary issue of Rs 549.2 crore (around $58 million) and an OFS of Rs 107 crore.
"It's less about the markets and more about our earnings. So we've had very good profitability this year, and when we filed, our board asked how we could argue that we needed the same amount of capital. So, we roughly reduced the issue size by our profits," Gopal Jain, managing director and chief executive officer, told VCCircle.
The firm reported Rs 82 crore in profits in FY26, seeing roughly 32% year-on-year increase, according to its RHP. Its revenue from operations grew by 11% during FY26 to Rs 135.5 crore.
The firm received approval for its maiden secondaries fund and aims to raise Rs 1,250 crore for the same. It has also laid the groundwork to start raising its fifth flagship vehicle, targeting a corpus of Rs 2,500 crore.
Gaja plans to use Rs 105 crore from the fresh issue to meet the sponsor commitment for the secondaries fund and to channel Rs 210 crore to its fifth PE fund. It will also use Rs 57 crore to meet the balance sponsor commitment to its fourth fund.
"We have sponsor commitments way beyond the minimum. Due to this, we tend to get good investors at good terms and we raise funds at a low cost, which on a net basis works in favour of the business," Jain said addressing the media.
Ranjit Jayant Shah, executive vice chairman said the investment firm intends to increase the share of sponsor commitments going ahead.
"Sponsor commitment has been a very integral part of Gaja Capital. Over the years, on average, we have invested 6.4% of all our funds as sponsor commitment. In the last fund, we did 8.5%. It is a large strategy to go to about 10%, and therefore the entire amount of Rs 250 crore is a part of that journey where we will increasingly increase our sponsor commitment to our future funds," Shah said.
The IPO will make Gaja one of the first standalone PE firms to be listed on the bourses in India. Globally, KKR, Blackstone, Apollo Global, TPG and CVC Capital are among the PE firms that are publicly traded. EAAA Alternatives, which is the alternative investment subsidiary of Edelweiss Financial Services, also filed its draft papers with SEBI in December.
IL&FS Investment Managers, a subsidiary of the infrastructure development and finance company IL&FS, was the first PE firm to list in the domestic market in 1990.
Jain referred to Gaja Capital's decision to list as "a tough choice" to make but one that was in line with the global trend. "It is a proven global playbook, and it helps managers grow faster and brings transparency and institutionalization," he said.
Gaja Capital mopped up a total of around $400 million after including the co-investment pool of its limited partners for its fourth fund, VCCircle reported in December 2023. It aimed to make eight to 10 investments from this fund with the ticket size ranging from $25 million to $40 million. The fund focuses on technology and tech-enabled businesses, especially in categories such as SaaS, AI, software products and advanced analytics.
The mid-market PE firm raised its first fund in 2005. This was raised entirely from local investors. The PE firm's second fund scooped up $180 million and closed in 2009. Its third fund closed in 2016 with $240 million in capital commitments.
Gaja Capital has been most active in the education sector, having invested in CL Educate, Educational Initiatives, Eurokids International, Junior Sports and Services, SV EduSports and Educomp Solutions. It has also placed some significant bets on financial services firms including Navi Technologies, Suryoday Small Finance Bank, RBL Bank, investment banking firm Avendus Capital, and non bank lender Kinara Capital.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.