Aquarius India Fund (AIF), part of Aquarius Investment Advisors Pvt Ltd, has invested $6.5 million (Rs 30 crore) in Vijay Nirman Company Pvt Ltd, a Hyderabad-based engineering and infrastructure development company. Vijay Nirman will utilise the fund in growth purposes for expansion in domestic as well as overseas markets.
This is the first equity infusion in Vijay Nirman and the amount of stake diluted to Aquarius is not known. The company is looking at a foray into Middle-East very soon, said a source privy to the development. The company is currently working on identifying partners in the market.
Vijay Nirman claims it is a Rs 300-crore company with a target to reach Rs 560 crore in the next fiscal. The company also plans to hit the market with initial public offer (IPO) in the next year.
AIF, a $100-million mid-cap private equity fund for growth capital, invests in industrial and infrastructure space apart from manufacturing, logistics, healthcare and consumer services. It has made two investments so far. In 2007, it invested Rs 30 crore for a 20% stake in Totem Infrastructure Ltd, a Hyderabad-based infrastructure company.
Apart from this private equity fund, Aquarius has already made several other investments in India. The investments were made from Hexagam Investments Ltd, a venture capital fund for India. The portfolio companies include India Cements, Marg Constructions, Wizcraft International, Strides Arcolabs, Sheorey Digital, CE Infosystems, and Karishma Software.
Nishith Desai Associates has acted as legal counsel for Aquarius Capital in this investment.
