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Temasek isn’t ruling out majority stakes — last year, it spent $2 billion to increase its holding in hospital chain Manipal Health Enterprises Ltd. It has also tied up with private equity firms for greater exposure to Indian assets. (Photo: Bloomberg)
By Preeti Singh and Baiju Kalesh
Temasek Holdings Pte is targeting minority stakes and helping Indian companies to grow from there, largely eschewing the trend of taking majority holdings in firms based in the world’s most populous country.
“We’ve been growth investors and I don’t see that fundamentally changing,” Vishesh Shrivastav, Temasek’s managing director for India investments, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. Core areas include digitization, consumption, longer lifespans and sustainable living, Shrivastav said.
The Singapore state investor has deployed nearly $37 billion in India over the past two decades, according to Shrivastav. That figure is set to rise sharply, with the company saying last year it planned to commit billions more.
India now accounts for about 7% of Temasek’s net portfolio value of S$389 billion ($289 billion), up from 4% in 2020, Shrivastav said.
Over the years, Temasek has taken minority stakes in a range of companies including HDFC Bank Ltd. and ICICI Bank Ltd., as well as online pharmacy chain PharmEasy and payment platform Pine Labs.
Temasek isn’t ruling out majority stakes — last year, it spent $2 billion to increase its holding in hospital chain Manipal Health Enterprises Ltd. It has also tied up with private equity firms for greater exposure to Indian assets.
“For the right opportunity with the right partnerships, we would absolutely consider taking control as well,” Shrivastav said.
That’s a route taken by other international investment firms, including Blackstone Inc., Carlyle Group Inc., KKR & Co. and Warburg Pincus, which have taken controlling stakes in companies such as Piramal Glass, beauty and wellness brand VLCC, Healthium Medtech and Appasamy Associates.
In 2020, Temasek partnered with Swedish asset manager EQT AB to establish a renewable energy platform O2 Power in India. It is also the largest limited partner in Info Edge Ventures, which invests in tech-based startups raising pre-seed, seed and Series A capital, according to Shrivastav.
“It’s an asset class that we would not do directly,” he said.
First Published: Jul 16 2024 | 5:11 PM IST
