| Md.-based Monsoon Capital held a soft close on its | | | | founder Gautam Prakash. “One modification we |
| Monsoon India Inflection Fund, Monsoon India | | | | made to the investment strategy was the decision in |
| Inflection Fund II and Cayman Islands-domiciled | | | | late 2005 to further concentrate in our best |
| Monsoon India Inflection Cayman Fund on Jan. 1. The | | | | holdings,” said Prakash. “From Aug. 1 to |
| funds, which raised a total of $600 million, will close to | | | | year-end our largest six portfolios were up an |
| existing investors in March with some $700 million. | | | | average of 112%, whereas the Indian mid-cap index |
| The Monsoon funds take a private equity slant to | | | | was up 30% to 35% during the same period.” |
| investment opportunities, investing in small- to | | | | Prakash declined to name the fund’s specific |
| mid-cap companies across a wide range of industries. | | | | holdings but said it had exposure to the IT services, |
| About one-third of its transactions are structured | | | | consumer electrical goods, medical device |
| negotiated deals, including private investments in | | | | manufacturer, consumer finance and real estate |
| public equity and minority stake private equity deals | | | | development sectors. “We focus not by being |
| where the funds take a 10% to 20% stake in the | | | | top-down sector specific but by being bottom up |
| acquired companies. Two-thirds of their transactions | | | | company specific,” he said. “We look at |
| are secondary purchases acquired in the open market | | | | companies with low p/e ratio, high EPS growth rates |
| or through block trades. | | | | and good management teams with very scalable |
| Last year, the funds returned 57%, net of fees, on | | | | business models and a lot of operating leverage. |
| the strength of its core holdings, according to | | | | |