It is the largest PE/VC player in China. It manages the biggest non-sponsored Asia fund. Since 2004, it has invested huge sums in Indian firms. And now, with its ability to spot new opportunities, it hopes to become the Numero Uno PE player in India, says ASIF AHMED
In March, 2006, Ravi Adusumalli, General Partner
and India head of SB Asia Infrastructure Fund, better known as SAIF Partners, flew from the US to ink a deal with a media company to invest in a new line of business related to electronic media. In a chat then, Adusumalli, who debuted at 77 in the Forbes’ “The Midas List, 2008,” told us that he believes in a strong ‘local’ team that is fiscally responsible. That was an eye opener as most global Private Equity (PE) and Venture Capital (VC) players used to fly down from their home country, sign an agreement, and return back. So, talking about an India-dedicated team was certainly a rare occurrence.
In fact, SAIF goes a step further: it is one of the few PE/VCs that have separate teams dedicated to the firms that it has invested in. What this means is that investor SAIF Partners has an in-house office inside the investee firm’s headquarters. And this unique strategy works well with the investees. “It’s good to have people, who are more intelligent, around us,” says Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the MD of One 97, which is one of SAIF’s portfolio companies, where the investor’s office is located.
But this is just the beginning of this story. And in the arena of PE/VC segment, it is probably one of the most successful business scripts. When it started in 2001-02 as a Joint Venture between Japan’s Softbank Corporation and America’s Cisco Corporation, the world’s largest router company, the fund’s mandate was to invest and drive technology firms in the Asia-Pacific region. In the beginning, most of SAIF’s investments were in China and South Korea.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
In March, 2006, Ravi Adusumalli, General Partner
and India head of SB Asia Infrastructure Fund, better known as SAIF Partners, flew from the US to ink a deal with a media company to invest in a new line of business related to electronic media. In a chat then, Adusumalli, who debuted at 77 in the Forbes’ “The Midas List, 2008,” told us that he believes in a strong ‘local’ team that is fiscally responsible. That was an eye opener as most global Private Equity (PE) and Venture Capital (VC) players used to fly down from their home country, sign an agreement, and return back. So, talking about an India-dedicated team was certainly a rare occurrence.In fact, SAIF goes a step further: it is one of the few PE/VCs that have separate teams dedicated to the firms that it has invested in. What this means is that investor SAIF Partners has an in-house office inside the investee firm’s headquarters. And this unique strategy works well with the investees. “It’s good to have people, who are more intelligent, around us,” says Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the MD of One 97, which is one of SAIF’s portfolio companies, where the investor’s office is located.
But this is just the beginning of this story. And in the arena of PE/VC segment, it is probably one of the most successful business scripts. When it started in 2001-02 as a Joint Venture between Japan’s Softbank Corporation and America’s Cisco Corporation, the world’s largest router company, the fund’s mandate was to invest and drive technology firms in the Asia-Pacific region. In the beginning, most of SAIF’s investments were in China and South Korea.
For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
which HDFC has successfully reflected. Carlyle Group has shown much interest in the housing finance domain, a niche area; thanks to the surge in disposable income of Indians. Its interest in this domain is also highlighted by the fact that it has picked up a significant stake in Repco Home Finance for a cool $27.7 million. For the purpose of growing, expanding and even maintaining its position in the market, a lot of capital will be needed and thus the association will be a long term one. Though they have no clear categorisation, it is the overall industry opportunity that guides their investment in India. Be it Repco or HDFC, it goes on to prove that investments being made by Carlyle in this segment are long term in nature. Besides capital, PE firms also bring with them international expertise in terms of technology and management, besides closely monitoring management developments.”
school, dispassionately herding the thoroughly hungry and raucous lot of us students into the bus, the grime and the heat of the afternoon sun – garnished with a motionless traffic jam – perhaps can never be forgotten that easily... And neither can be forgotten those spectacularly huge Air India billboards standing resplendent in the sun, glorified by the mascot we all knew as the Maharaja, billboards we would crane our necks to see, for not only were they creativity benchmarks of those times, but also because we, er, loved the Maharaja!
because of consumer pull, availability, convenience & wide variety of taste. The pester power has given boost to the brand in three ways. Firstly, children get excited with the taste and ask for Maggi when they come back from school. Secondly, the pester power of kids has made mothers consider variants like Maggi Vegetable Atta Noodles & Maggi Dal Atta Noodles as a wholesome snack for its apparent nutritional value. Thirdly, the pester power influence from kids to kids has a strong demonstration effect. All this has helped Maggi to become a favourite & powerful brand.
in transportation with considerable growth opportunities, an impressive track record and a strong franchise that should continue to deliver superior returns. Today, FedEx has evolved into a global transportation and logistic powerhouse, providing a portfolio of transportation, e-commerce, and business services through companies operating independently, competing collectively, and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. 
ONGC controls the raw material i.e. crude, while HPCL, BPCL et al are all dependent on crude oil. The learning curve effect is the greatest advantage for ONGC and it has helped it reduce its project execution time. Stronger geographical presence and data collection has further increased its efficiency. Despite the fact that as an upstream company it has to share the burden of 33% oil subsidy its performance is praiseworthy. Retaining talent at the mid-level has been a problem though; all thanks to its PSU status. It has a huge cash reserve too. The company can very well take advantage of the heightened crude prices, the only hindrance being the administered price mechanism. Despite government apathy, the company continues to perform well and will surely be more successful in future. 
reflected all the pristine virtues of Nirupa Roy – aka, Mother Earth! Eternally sacrificing, unconditionally loving, caring and forgiving, she was the definitive 24x7 giver, wanting (or expecting) nothing in return except the well-being of her family. Excuse me, but what about her life, needs, wants, dreams, desires and aspirations? “What dreams, drives, desires are you babbling about, dummy? What crap are you letting fly, you regressive moron? She is a mother, okay and this is her life, okay?!” hisses a seven-star chauvinist pig! Today, as we bogey towards the end of ’07, has this Stone Age projection of women in adville moved on? Is it keeping pace with times? Is it more real, contemporary, authentic? Is the new Indian woman – cool, confident, aspirational, successful, multi-tasking – coming through or is Adville hemming and hawing, paying lip-service, indulging in tokenism, playing safe by re-enforcing the stereotypes?
represents is the changing face of HCL, a company which not only operates in India but is working towards a better global future as well! With its 51,000 employees spread across 18 countries, HCL has become one of India’s true multinationals with interests in diverse genres such as financial services, retail, life sciences and healthcare, telecom, media, hi-tech and manufacturing. HCL Technologies focuses on what it calls ‘transformational outsourcing’ specialising in areas which will have an eventual impact on the future and business as a whole. According to Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL “Since its inception three decades ago, HCL has always dreamt fearlessly and is responsible for many firsts in the computing landscape. We could well be called a ‘pioneer in modern computing’.”
the date on the Julian calendar being January 15. And guess why its so? It’s the Japanese New Year of course! But unlike other new year dates, this one holds more significance than just being a simple new year date, for it’s also considered pious and the perfect day to start a new venture, taking lessons from the mistakes made in the year gone by. In the modern corporate world, these can come in the form of new product launches, new merger announcements et al. And this company is no exception, as it plans to the age-old Japanese norms; planning new launches in a and around the Japanese new year... this is what we discovered when we caught up with its MD, Akira Haeno on a bright winter morning.
