The Rohatyn Group (TRG), an asset management firm focused on emerging markets, has acquired JPMorgan Asian Infrastructure & Related Resources Opportunity (AIRRO) platform from JPMorgan Asset Management, the two companies said in a joint statement on Monday.
The transaction value was not disclosed.
In addition to acquiring the rights to manage the AIRRO funds, the India-based AIRRO investment team will join TRG’s India private markets team as part of the transaction, the statement said.
Rajeev Kalra, managing director and head of India at TRG will lead the combined group from offices in Mumbai and New Delhi.
The AIRRO funds currently hold about $750 million in Indian assets across toll roads, thermal power, renewable energy, and social infrastructure sub-sectors. TRG said the addition of AIRRO’s portfolio of Indian infrastructure assets will help it focus on structural and special opportunities in emerging markets.
TRG has so far clocked seven successful exits in its India portfolio, despite complex circumstances in a number of cases, Kalra said.
"We see a pressing need for increased and improved infrastructure across emerging markets to perpetuate the strong growth and dynamism of these economies," said Nicolas Rohatyn, chief executive, TRG.
Founded in 2002, TRG is headquartered in New York, and has offices in Boston, Singapore, Seoul, Rotorua, London, Buenos Aires, Lima, Montevideo, Mexico City, São Paulo, Mumbai and New Delhi.
TRG had established its private markets presence in India in December 2013 with the acquisition of Citi Venture Capital International.
TRG, which has experience in infrastructure and renewable energy, said it is also in the process of integrating its Southeast Asian infrastructure subsidiary CapAsia with itself.
JPMorgan Asset Management has more than $130 billion in assets under management.
India's infrastructure investors
Other significant investors in India's infrastructure sector include Australia's Macquarie Group, US-based I Squared Capital, Canada's Brookfield Asset Management, Canadian pension funds CDPQ, PSP Investments and CPPIB, and most recently firms such as Global Infrastructure Partners and Dubai's Investcorp.
In April 2018, in one of the largest transactions in infrastructure asset management in the country, US-based Global Infrastructure Partners agreed to take over IDFC Alternatives's infrastructure fund management business, including its entire team.
The infrastructure portfolio of IDFC Alternatives consists of two funds–the India Infrastructure Fund I and Fund II. The two funds have collectively invested about Rs 9,337 crore ($1.4 billion) in 32 infrastructure companies across roads, power, telecom tower and renewable energy sectors.
The National Democratic Alliance-led government has put infrastructure development, including renewable energy, on top of its agenda. India needs to spend as much as $4.5 trillion to boost its creaky infrastructure by 2040, according to the Economic Survey 2040.