(Bloomberg) -- The steady stream of money from Indian savers will underpin the country’s buoyant initial public offering market, according to a senior executive at Carlyle Group Inc.
India is probably the number one market in the world in getting liquidity from IPOs and secondary offerings, and the pipeline in this area is strong, Amit Jain, head of Carlyle India Advisors, told Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin. Carlyle, which has taken six companies public, is preparing to list IT firm Hexaware Technologies Ltd. and “there’s more to come,” Jain said.
Money that flows in every month through regular investment plans from savers is seeking to participate in the India’s capital markets, resulting in high liquidity, he added.
“Seven years back when you tried to sell companies, you didn’t have enough liquidity,” Jain said. “Today, we’ve experienced getting half-a-billion to billion-dollar blocks out within five minutes,” he said.
Jain, who joined from Blackstone Inc. in 2021, said Carlyle has invested more capital in India over the last five years than in its first 13 years in the country. Overall, the firm has invested $6.7 billion across 45 deals in India.
“I think it just tells you how leaning-forward a view we hold in India,” Jain said, adding investments in the last five years included a stake in Yes Bank Ltd and beauty and wellness company, VLCC.
Carlyle’s bets are around the country’s aspiring middle class as well as its rise in exports and manufacturing, Jain said. Carlyle has been weighing other asset classes in India including real estate and asset-backed financing, and credit is also one of them, he said.
“What is required fundamentally is a mindset of equanimity,” Jain said in response to a question on risks in India. “I really worry that the quality of execution should not come in the way of the scale of the promise India holds.”
--With assistance from Naman Tandon.
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