Devinjit Singh, the Mumbai-based managing director of US-headquartered private equity firm Carlyle Group, has resigned and is planning to launch his own PE fund with a size of $200-250 million (Rs 1,340-1,675 crore), two people aware of the development told VCCircle.
Singh will quit Carlyle Group by the end of this month after a decade at the firm, the persons said on the condition of anonymity.
He is the second managing director to leave Carlyle this year after Shankar Narayanan resigned a few months ago following a long innings at the firm.
Both Singh and Carlyle Group declined to comment on the development.
The Economic Times, which reported the development earlier on Tuesday, said that Singh was in discussions to bring in a partner for his proposed fund and a decision is expected in 8-10 days.
Money for the proposed fund will be raised from global institutions, domestic family offices and high net worth individuals, the report said.
The fund is likely to invest between $15 and $50 million in each company, said one of the above-mentioned persons.
Singh had joined Carlyle in 2008 and has been involved with investments in HDFC, India Infoline, PNB Housing Finance and SBI Card and Payment Services.
Singh will continue to be associated with a few of Carlyle’s portfolio companies like PNB Housing Finance and SBI Cards for a few months after his departure and will act as a consultant to the PE firm, the people cited above said.
Before joining Carlyle, Singh was managing director and head of Citigroup’s mergers and acquisitions business in India.
He is following in the footsteps of former Carlyle managing director Mahesh Parasuraman, who left in 2015 to jointly run growth capital investment firm Amicus Capital.
Several other private equity professionals have recently left established firms to set up their own funds. These include Nitin Malhan and Nitin Nayyar of Warburg Pincus.
Carlyle has seen a slew of recent departures over the past year. It merged its buyout and growth teams last year, which resulted in a few executives like Manoj Dengla and Nikhil Mohta leaving the firm. While Dengla joined Arpwood Capital, Mohta joined ICICI Venture.
In India, Carlyle has previously invested in firms such as Edelweiss Financial Services, Repco Home Finance, Cyient, South Indian Bank, GOL Offshore and Allsec Technologies.
Last month, Reuters reported that Carlyle Group was set to close its biggest-ever Asia private equity fund at $6.5 billion.
