ICICI Venture Plans Larger Deals

New Delhi: ICICI Venture Ltd., India's biggest buyout firm, plans to scale up the size of investments to earn bigger returns as company valuations surge and competition intensifies.
The firm, which has raised $2 billion, may buy stakes as large as $125 million, five times the average size of existing investments, Managing Director Renuka Ramnath said in an interview in Mumbai. That would include about $50 million from co-investors, she said.
ICICI Venture, whose investments include drug makers, retailers, low-cost airlines and builders, will focus on industries that will benefit most from economic expansion and a consumer boom it sparks, she said.
The firm invested in companies such as retailer Shoppers' Stop Ltd., no-frills airline Deccan Aviation Ltd. and PVR to take advantage of a ``revolution in domestic consumer spending,'' Ramnath said.
Rising salaries in India, where per capita income has doubled in the past 10 years, is prompting the middle class to spend more on travel, accessories and entertainment.
Seven carriers have started flights in the past three years and five more are seeking approval to begin flying in the country, where air fares have fallen by half.
25/12/06 Bloomberg/Anil Penna and Abhay Singh

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