Private equity giant Warburg Pincus has agreed to invest $300 million in Princeton Growth Ventures (PGV), a new platform that seeks to acquire assets in the telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) infrastructure sector started by former Tata Communications Ltd executive Rangu Salgame.
New York-based PGV aims to acquire standalone as well as carve-out assets in India, China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, it said in a statement.
“PGV is seeking to build a multi-billion dollar Internet infrastructure platform of global scale by acquiring assets from or partnering with telecom and media companies and independent players,†Salgame said. The venture will look to invest in the acquired assets for growth and value creation, he added.
PGV was founded earlier this year by Salgame and Varoon Raghavan, who has experience in the data centre, media services and enterprise services sectors.
Salgame was previously the CEO of the Growth Ventures Group at Tata Communications, where he ran a global multi-billion-dollar portfolio for the company and was responsible for ramping up its data centre business. He has also worked with Cisco Systems and Verizon Communications in his 25-year career.
Warburg Pincus has invested over $16 billion in more than 300 TMT companies globally. Some of its current and prior investments in the sector globally include BEA Systems, Bharti Televentures, Endurance International, Nuance Communications, Veritas Software and United Internet.
“We believe telecom companies will increasingly divest non-core assets, which should lead to a number of attractive investment opportunities in data centers and the broader TMT infrastructure sector,†said Viraj Sawhney, managing director at Warburg Pincus.
The private equity firm, which has $44 billion in assets under management, invests globally in businesses at all stages of development with a focus on five key sectors: energy, financial services, healthcare and consumer, industrial and business services, and technology, media and telecommunications.
Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 16 private equity funds that have invested more than $60 billion in over 780 companies in more than 40 countries.
Warburg Pincus, which invests in India out of a global fund, had raised $12 billion in its latest flagship fund—Warburg Pincus Private Equity XII LP—in 2015.
In its latest investment in India, Warburg Pincus acquired a 14% stake in PVR Ltd, the country’s largest multiplex chain, for about Rs 820 crore ($120.4 million).
