Kotak Investment Advisors Limited (KIAL) on December 13, 2022, announced the closing of its Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) Kotak Infrastructure Investment Fund. The AIF of Rs 6,000 crore corpus will invest in operating infrastructure projects.
KIIF has already received commitments of Rs 5,328 crore from anchor investors including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. This is the first time an infrastructure credit-focused fund has been set up with significant commitments from international investors.
Suman Saha, CEO, Kotak Infrastructure Fund, said, “KIIF is a differentiated offering in an otherwise crowded infrastructure investing market dominated by equity investors. It attempts to measure and price risk better than equity, and will deliver superior risk adjusted returns to its LPs. It will provide credit solutions to stressed infrastructure assets, as well as capital for growth. We are delighted that marquee international investors have endorsed the strategy and look forward to working closely with them in making KIIF a success”.
Srini Sriniwasan, MD, Kotak Investment Advisors Limited said, “We are a big believer in India and are building a multi asset class alternate asset management business of scale, with an India focus. Infrastructure is the backbone for an economy and is the key to the government’s plan to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025. This fund will play a key role in solving the balance sheet correction issues in infrastructure assets at a time when other sources of capital have dried up.”
Dongik Lee, director-general, banking department, AIIB said, “We are very pleased to commence the partnership with KIAL and Kotak Group through our investment in the Kotak Infrastructure Investment Fund (KIIF). India’s infrastructure sector has many assets with operating track records in need of innovative credit solutions. With the sectoral expertise and franchise strengths of KIAL and Kotak Group, KIIF is expected to be a vital new source of liquidity which complements the conventional capital available in the sector. AIIB’s investment is expected to help improve the mobilization of innovative risk capital from institutional investors, and we are excited to support the long-term financial sustainability of selected infrastructure companies in India.”
KIAL, a part of Kotak Mahindra Group (Kotak), was set up in early 2005 and has raised/managed/advised over $ 6.8 billion across different asset classes.
