TVS Capital Funds Ltd, which manages the Rs 600 crore TVS Shriram Growth Fund-I, is expecting to close another deal soon in the coming weeks, possibly in the restaurants space. This comes as the PE firm closed its fifth investment earlier this week in Medfort Hospitals, a healthcare firm focused on eye and diabetes care.
TVS Capital could also explore the possibility of topping up the current fund by April next year, said Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman & Managing Director of the firm. The PE firm can add another Rs 600 crore to the fund which will be called TVS Shriram Growth Fund-I B, much like an annex fund.
"We haven't yet taken a call on this but we will evaluate based on our progress," said Srinivasan.
TVS Capital has invested in media firm 9.9 Mediaworx, logistics solutions provider TVS Logistics, facilities management company Dusters Hospitality and book retailer Landmark. With the Medfort deal, around 60% of the investible corpus of the fund would be exhausted.
"We have also developed a very active culture of working with portfolio companies. We have a team of nearly 4 advisors working with portfolio companies," added Srinivasan. Some of the venture advisors according to TVS Capital website include RPG group director Pradipta K. Mohapatra and Landmark founder Hemu Ramaiah, among others.
Medfort Deal
"We are very excited because this is our first investment in the retail healthcare delivery services play and the entrepreneur has got a proven track record with companies like Metropolis and Trivitron," said Srinivasan. He added that TVS Capital liked Medfort's strategy of going after underserved markets in northern India.
"We really believe that this company can rapidly grow in the next 3-4 years through a strategy of acquisitions and homogenization," added Srinivasan. He added that growth capital investments will typically be focused on day-care chains where there are large opportunities with aging and diabetic population.
Healthcare services firms have seen increasing interest from private equity players, especially specialty chains and diagnostic firms. PE firms have so far invested $308 million across 14 deals till date this calendar year, as per VCCEdge. This as compared to $187 million across 8 deals in the entire calendar year 2009.