WARBURG PINCUS SHIFTS
EXECS FROM S'PORE TO INDIA
Warburg Pincus, India's largest foreign
private equity investor, is beefing up its India presence
in what analysts consider to be another indication of the
growing attraction of Asia's third-largest economy for foreign
funds. Warburg is transferring several senior executives from
Singapore to a full-fledged office it proposes to set up in
Mumbai.
Two top Singapore officials Rajesh Khanna
and Pulak Prasad will move to Mumbai permanently. About 6-8
others will be joining them.
"Warburg Pincus considers India to
be a key investment destination and the firm is continuously
evaluating options to further draw on the potential of the
market. All investment initiatives and plans will, as always,
be communicated once formalised," a Warburg spokesperson
said.
Warburg functioned in India through a
liaison office in Mumbai's Oberoi Towers. Although Mr Khanna
and Mr Prasad were both responsible for India, they operated
out of Singapore with frequent trips to the country. "This
is the place where deals are happening, not Singapore. So
it makes sense to move," a source said.
Sources said that the Warburg move would
probably result in the size of the Singapore office being
cut down with only a few people remaining, while the bulk
of the team shifted to Mumbai.
The fund, which has global investments
of $11-billion, has offices in Singapore, Seoul, and Hong
Kong. It has a representative office in Beijing and a liaison
centre in Mumbai.
The fund's new Mumbai premises are likely
to be located in Nariman Point's Express Towers.
Warburg has stakes in three companies
- Moser Baer, Gujarat Ambuja and Bharti Tele-Ventures - worth
about Rs 1,000 crore.
In February, it increased its stake in
Moser Baer to 35% from 23% with a Rs 675-crore investment.
The fund has also got majority control of WNS, a business
process outsourcing (BPO) company initially set up by British
Airways.
The Indian economy, Asia's third-largest,
is expected to grow by over 8% in the year ending March, 2004,
making it one of the best performers in the world.
Foreign funds continue to pour money into
the country with investments in both debt and equity topping
$25 billion this year.
