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Private equity firm New Silk Route (NSR) is working on exiting many of its investments, including that in Vasudev Adiga’s Fast Food Pvt Ltd and Café Coffee Day (CCD), in the next two years.
The firm is also looking for planned exits in at least three other companies this year.
“Even though most of the PEs in India have locked in their investments, the focus of NSR is to return investors’ money. Last year, the fund created the means to exit from four of its investments, and in some cases, the fund has partially exited,” a source close to the development told BusinessLine.
NSR, which holds a majority stake in Bengaluru-based Adiga’s restaurant chain, expects to reach a “negotiated settlement” outside the court in the ongoing legal tussle and then sell its stake.
The Asia-focussed fund has no plans to increase its stake in the company as it is coming out of its lock-in period.
Legal battle
NSR and the Adiga family have been locked in legal battles over the percentage of holding in the company, with cases heard at by the Chennai Bench of the Company Law Board, the Karnataka High Court, and now the National Company Law Tribunal.
“Once this is settled, NSR will exit the firm,” another source added.
When contacted, officials at Vasudev Adiga’s and NSR declined to comment. NSR, which has invested about $1 billion across 16 companies in India, is also looking to exit Café Coffee Day (CCD). In 2010, the PE fund had invested about $75 million in a holding company of CCD, and is now close to ending the lock-in period.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Standard Chartered Private Equity also have invested in CCD, which got listed last year.
“The company continues to outperform its peers and in the last three-four quarters, has been posting better sales than others. However, this is not reflecting in the stock prices and when stock prices reflect the business performance, NSR will exit it,” another source said.
Last year, NSR listed three portfolio companies — CCD, VRL Logistics and Ortel Communications — and it exited completely from Karnataka-based VRL Logistics and Destimoney Enterprises (the holding company for PNB Housing Finance).
Since its inception in 2006, the Asia-focussed New Silk Route has invested about $1 billion across 16 companies in India
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