Multi-family office Waterfield Advisors has raised $6 million (Rs 42.6 crore) from a consortium of investment firms and individuals with ultra-high net worth, the Mumbai-based firm said on Thursday.
The investors include New York-based asset management firm Zepyhr Management LP and homegrown private equity firm TVS Capital, Waterfield said in a statement.
Lakshmi Narayanan, former vice chairman of Cognizant, and Gaurav Dalmia, chairman of Dalmia Group Holdings, also invested.
VCCircle had first reported in May that the firm was speaking with investors for a potential fundraise.
Waterfield also said that the fresh capital will help the firm enhance its advisory platform with the addition of new talent, technology innovation and expansion into select international markets.
Through its international offices, Waterfield will seek to advise international family offices on their India allocations.
Founded in 2011 by Soumya Rajan and Sanjay Teli, Waterfield advises more than 60 business families in India and has more than $3.3 billion in total assets under advisory.
“The primary growth capital we have raised will help us to strengthen our first-mover leadership position,” said Rajan, who is also Waterfield’s CEO.
The firm has four offices across the country in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.
In 2014, Amit and Arihant Patni acquired about one-fourth of Waterfield for an undisclosed amount. Amit and Arihant are sons of Gajendra Patni, the eldest of the Patni brothers who had founded Patni Computers.
In a 2017 interaction with VCCircle, Rajan had said that the firm had halted its direct involvement in advisory services related to transactions to focus on the core business and expand its overall asset base multi-fold.
A year later, Waterfield adopted the advisory-only route after the Securities and Exchange Board of India separated advisory and distribution activities and asked wealth managers to choose one line of activity, according to a media report the company cites on its website.
