NEW DELHI: Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala of Rare Enterprises does not seem to be bullish on the Indian private equity market anymore. Jhunjhunwala is gradually looking to exit his key Private Equity (PE) investments, sources told ET Now.
The exit will be done in a phased out manner over the next two to three years. Jhunjhunwala has started the process by a plan to sell his promoter stake in Aptech, which defined computer education in India. He holds a 35.79% stake in the company which was acquired six years ago.
Investment bank Avendus Capital has approached a list of potential suitors, including TeamLease, a staffing company with interest in vocational education, and Manipal Universal Learning, which is one of India's largest private enterprises focused on education.
The most likely buyers could be international education companies that are hot on Indian opportunities . Aptech may be looking at over Rs 600 crore valuation, or about 14 times its operating profit, which is a premium to the stock market valuation of Rs 461 crore.
The big bull is also likely to exit his investments in companies like Hungama Mobile and sectors like dredging and food & beverages. Jhunjhunwala does not expect big returns from these investments.
Another possible reason for the exit could be his involvement in the day to day affairs of these companies. Being an investor, rather than a businessman, he could also be of the opinion that some of the entrepreneurs that he has dealt with are not willing to scale up.
Jhunjhunwala feels that the private equity market in India is not investor oriented. Sources have told ET Now that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is likely to maintain his entire focus primarily on his portfolio of listed companies.
His portfolio consists of stocks like Titan, VIP and Provogue. Rare Enterprises officials remained unavailable for comment.
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