Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL) and Värde Partners (Värde), have formed a strategic partnership to pursue investments in stressed and distressed assets in India.
Operating through a joint platform, both parties will evaluate investments across sectors, focusing on the acquisition, restructuring and resolution of the substantial supply of non-performing assets in India as well as special situations financings. Given the current landscape and further prospects in asset reconstruction in India, ABCL and Värde believe there is an attractive pipeline for strong capital deployment opportunities over the next several years.
Ajay Srinivasan, Chief Executive of ABCL, says: “The ARC business is a strong addition to the businesses we already have at ABCL. We see a large opportunity in the distressed space, especially in the mid-corporate segment. One of the things that we bring to the table as a Group, is that we understand how to run many businesses. We are looking at leveraging this skill set as we enter this new business. Thus, our decision to enter into a joint venture with Värde Partners, who bring restructuring expertise to augment our core strength. The expertise and experience of both ABCL and Värde, makes this a strong combination to capitalise on the opportunity that India presents.”
Ilfryn Carstairs, Co-CIO of Värde Partners, says: “We see India as a core market for Värde and a critical part of our long-term strategy in Asia. We are particularly excited to partner with an organisation with the quality reputation and established relationships of ABCL to address what we believe will be a very large, multi-year opportunity. Värde’s deep, global restructuring expertise developed over the firm’s 25-year history will be complemented by Aditya Birla’s strong team and experience in Indian credit and asset markets.”
On receipt of necessary approvals, both parties will jointly own and control the platform, which will leverage ABCL’s expertise in the financial services domain, the Aditya Birla Group’s wide operational experience across sectors and Värde’s established capabilities in global credit and value investing strategies. Värde currently manages about USD14 billion globally, and has invested nearly USD500 million in India in the past five years across corporate stressed, distressed, special situations and lending assets. With regional headquarters established in Singapore in 2008, Värde expects to open its fifth Asia office in Mumbai later this year, subject to regulatory approvals.
