New Delhi, July 29 -- American private equity firm Warburg Pincus, one of the oldest among its global peers to be actively investing in India for over three decades, has kicked off the process for an India-domiciled alternative investment fund.
The investment firm, which struck back-to-back transactions in the country in January as it doubled down on Avanse Financial and a unit of Lemon Tree Hotels, has registered a fund vehicle with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, VCCircle has gathered.
The entity-Warburg Pincus Alternative Investment Trust I-was registered a few weeks ago as a Category II AIF, which represents private equity and private credit funds.
This comes soon after the investment group created a new Indian legal entity, Warburg Pincus Alternative Investment Management Pvt Ltd, late last year. This company counts Ankur Gulati and Harsha Marti, who is Warburg's global chief legal officer and head of new solutions, as its founding directors.
Gulati was hired a year ago as the first employee under its structured capital team as a Principal leading Capital Solutions in India. Previously, he spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs in different roles, including as head of hybrid and private credit investing for Goldman Sachs Asset Management in India, and as a founding member of the Asian Special Situations Group's (ASSG) team in Mumbai.
Prior to Goldman Sachs, he had worked at TPG Growth, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and McKinsey and Co.
The New York-headquartered PE firm, which has backed Indian companies in consumer, financial services, and healthcare sectors, is preparing to launch an India-focussed private credit fund, multiple industry executives and people in the know told VCCircle.
While the exact contours of the proposed fund couldn't be ascertained, two people familiar with the matter said the PE firm is targeting a corpus of around $200 million for this debt vehicle. They added that the fund will target companies in healthcare, technology and financial services among other sectors.
All the people spoke to VCCircle on the condition of anonymity.
A spokesperson for Warburg said the information is "incorrect". "Warburg Pincus confirms that it does not currently intend to raise domestic capital or establish an India-focused fund," she added.
To be sure, separate media reports in the past have suggested Warburg is planning an India private equity fund for several years now. In 2019, Reuters said the firm would raise $1.5 billion for its maiden India fund. In January 2025, The Hindu Businessline said Warburg was eyeing $3-4 billion for the India fund.
Warburg's Capital Solutions team provides financing solutions in the form of structured and hybrid capital. The group works alongside its sector teams to execute thesis-based structured investments, as per the firm's website.
The firm has made structured capital investments for nearly two decades, having deployed nearly $5 billion across over 20 transactions.
Warburg's plans to set up a local vehicle comes amid geopolitical tensions and the appeal of India's growing economy. With the Iran war, developed markets are yielding lower returns with higher risks, one of the people said.
A second person said Warburg is among the few large global PE firms that didn't have any alternative approach in India. "They used to invest only PE money. It [credit fund] is just to ensure some tailor-made solution is there," the person said.
To be sure, several global PE firms have made credit investments in India. KKR has played in the private credit space in the past but had to change tack over bad bets. Bain Capital and Apollo Global have had parallel plays on the special situation and credit sides.
Several local asset managers have also rolled out private credit funds in the recent past, adding a new vertical to their alternative investment arms.
For instance, last week, VCCircle reported that Mumbai-based 360 One Asset, which closed its fifth private credit fund earlier this year, plans to launch a new vehicle soon to make debt investments in profitable companies looking to grow, acquire new assets or expand their business.
In May, VCCircle reported Singapore-headquartered wealth and asset management firm Lighthouse Canton had launched a private credit fund targeting a corpus of Rs 1,200 crore ($125.3 million), including a greenshoe option, to invest in structured credit opportunities in India.
JM Financial Asset Management Ltd, which manages mutual fund schemes and alternative investment funds, is preparing to raise a new private credit fund soon, VCCircle reported in May. The unit of Mumbai-based JM Financial Group has previously raised two credit funds-a distressed assets vehicle that it launched in 2020 and a performing credit fund it floated in 2023.
Earlier this year, VCCircle also reported that Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Ltd had started deploying capital from its second offering in the private credit strategy and aimed to hit the investment vehicle's final close soon.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.