Lighthouse Funds has closed its most recent mid market private equity fund, India 2020 Fund II, in June 2015 with aggregate commitments of USD138 million, well over its targeted size of USD125 million.
The success of Lighthouse’s predecessor fund, Fund I attracted major Fund I investors to reinvest as well as a host of new, long-term investors including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), amongst others. Fund II will follow the successful strategy of Fund I, investing primarily in mid-market growth companies focused on domestic Indian consumption.
Brian Larcombe, Board Member of Fund II and former CEO of private equity giant 3i, says: "The mid-market in India continues to be underserved from a capital availability standpoint. This creates a unique landscape for long-term investors to invest in and support an amazing set of entrepreneurs, creating the “New India”.”
Cebile Capital was the exclusive global placement agent for Fund II. Sunaina Sinha, Managing Partner of Cebile Capital, says: "The confidence from investors in oversubscribing Fund II is a testament to the Lighthouse team and the strong performance of Fund I, which is fully invested with 50% of the invested capital realised and is on target to return 2.5x over the life of the Fund."
Mukund Krishnaswami (pictured), Partner at Lighthouse, adds: "We are proud of the track record of Fund I thus far, and are focused on consistency for Fund II. Fund II has already completed three investments (with a fourth almost complete) and is over 30 per cent invested."
