Singapore-based stressed assets investor SSG Capital Management plans to float an investment vehicle to buy distressed assets in India, according to a media report.
The Asia-focussed special situations investment firm is likely to set up an onshore investment vehicle under the alternative investment fund (AIF) regime to invest in opportunities in the distressed assets space in the country, Mint reported.
The firm hired Praveen Thomas—who previously worked with Deutsche Bank—as legal counsel to help it set up the domestic investment vehicle, the report said, citing a person privy to the development.
The development comes at a time when SSG Capital is preparing to create a large war chest for investing in bad loans in India and across Asia. In July, Mint reported that it is raising close to $2 billion across two Asia-focussed funds to make special situations and private credit investments.
Founded in 2009 by former Lehman Brothers Inc executives Edwin Wong, Andreas Vourloumis and Shyam Maheshwari, SSG Capital makes investments in assets that are afflicted by changes in pricing and market liquidity.
SSG Capital has already been an active investor in the stressed assets space in India.
In April 2016, it acquired a 40% stake in Future Supply Chain Solutions Ltd for up to Rs 580 crore ($87 million then).
In 2014, it bought a 49% stake in Asset Care and Reconstruction Enterprise (ACRE) for an undisclosed amount. ACRE is engaged in the acquisition of non-performing financial assets from banks and financial institutions.
In April, VCCircle reported that a group of lenders, led by Union Bank of India, sought to become a party to a case filed by Axis Trustee Services Ltd, which represents SSG Investment Holding India Ltd, to recover the Rs 102 crore that SSG had invested in in Pune township developer Lavasa Corporation Ltd .
Partnerships in stressed assets space
In March 2016, Kotak Mahindra Group signed an agreement with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to invest up to $525 million (about Rs 3,500 crore then) in stressed assets in the country’s banking and corporate sectors.
In July 2016, State Bank of India said that Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc will put in about Rs 7,000 crore ($1.04 billion then) in a joint venture that will invest in distressed assets.
In October 2016, Canadian pension fund CDPQ signed an agreement with Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company to invest about Rs 5,000 crore (around $750 million then) over four years to help the Indian firm invest in stressed assets.
