Mumbai: Axis Private Equity’s Axis New Opportunities AIF I, which had invested in companies such as Bikaji Foods, SBI General Insurance and the NSE, repaid investors with internal rates of return that touched 21%.
It has fully deployed the second fund in companies such as Lenskart, Gopal Snacks and SK Finance. It could launch its next fund in six months, with a targeted corpus of ₹1,000 crore – bigger than the earlier purses.
Axis entered the private equity space in 2017-18 by raising a ₹1,000 crore fund. This fund is part of Axis Mutual Fund’s alternative assets business, which invests in late-stage growth equity or pre-IPO companies. Now, the fund has completely exited with its last position being sold last month and money returned to investors.
The investment was made across five investments in private equity and a few during the IPO process. The fund had invested in SBI General Insurance at ₹12,000 crore valuation and exited at a multiple of 2x.
In its NSE commitment, the fund made 2.6x. Bikaji was another investment, which the fund sold both pre-IPO and post-listing. “We have tried to ensure not to generate only paper IRR but actual DPI (distribution of paid-in capital) delivered to investors,” said Ashwin Patni, head of products, Alternatives Axis AMC. “We focus on businesses where we can get a good outcome, in terms of exit or listing perspective, in a reasonable timeframe.”
Axis has deployed the second fund of ₹1,000 crore in late-stage investing in themes such as consumer, financials and tech companies including Lenskart, Swiggy, Ola, Gopal Snacks, and SK Finance. “We have completely exited from the first fund. We have a certain target IRR and exit timeline and we work alongside each other,” he said. “The fund life is 3.5 years. The future fund life is now extended to five years.”
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Axis has raised two funds in private equity, two in credit and three in real estate. It is currently raising a second performing credit fund, of which ₹400 crore is raised, and is looking to raise a total of ₹1,000 crore.
