Piramal Group to launch a Rs 60 billion fund for distressed assets

The Piramal Group is set to launch a fund to invest in distressed assets. The fund is expected to have a corpus of Rs 60 billion. Piramal India Resurgent Funds will be the first domestic fund focused on acquiring stressed loans. The fund will invest in potential turnaround companies and provide rescue capital. The Reserve Bank of India’s move to allow banks to convert part of their debt into equity of a defaulting company under the strategic debt restructuring (SDR) scheme and to later find a buyer for their stake is expected to create huge opportunities for such special situation funds. Funds currently focused on distressed assets with turnaround potential include Apollo Global Management’s tie-up with ICICI Ventures and the India-based International Asset Reconstruction Fund’s tie-up with US-based private equity (PE) firm KKR.