Since allowed to invest in Indian companies this January, Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) have placed Rs 37 crore in listed companies as of August 23.
About 95 per cent of this amount is invested in just one company — Claris Lifesciences. There are another 12 listed companies in which QFIs have invested.
“These investments have come from only three or four accounts on the NSDL. There have been no QFI investments made through the CDSL,” said a CDSL official.
Data from the depositories show that QFIs have made significant investments in Ahmedabad-based Claris Lifesciences Ltd. They have invested Rs 35 crore or an aggregate investment of about 2.66 per cent of Claris’ paid-up capital. This percentage is computed based on investments by QFIs, as reported by the Qualified Participants and paid-up capital of the company, as provided by the stock exchanges.
The investment was made by New York-based private equity firm Signet Healthcare Partners.
As of June, FIIs held 9.18 per cent in the company. Claris Lifesciences closed at Rs 197.50, down 4.2 per cent on the BSE on Monday.
Apart from Claris Lifesciences, the other investments were in Nifty 50 companies. HDFC, ITC and HDFC Bank were the top draws.
As of now, there are no companies in the caution list (more than 8 per cent of the paid-up capital) or in the threshold list (more than 10 per cent of paid-up capital)
The disclosures come on a directive by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to depositories to jointly publish/disseminate the aggregate shareholding of QFIs.
In January, the government opened doors to QFIs mainly to widen the class of investors, attract more foreign funds, reduce market volatility and deepen the capital market. QFIs are allowed to invest through SEBI-registered Qualified Depository Participants.