Even though the economic news for India has been very negative lately with both diversified portfolios that focus on the country like the India Fund ( IFN , quote ) and Wall Street favorites like Tata Motors ( TTM , quote ) each down about 10% for the week, The Blackstone Group ( BX , quote ) announced recently that it would be investing $500-700 million there annually.
In a Reuters article by Tony Munroe and Indulal PM, "Blackstone eyes $500-$720 million deals a year in India," there is rumored to be a deal for Reliance Communications already in the works. Akhil Gupta, chairman and managing director for Blackstone India, stated there would be around five deals annually of about $120 million each.
Private equity is rising in India, with almost $8 billion in deals already this year. That represents a 31% increase from 2010. As detailed on www.emergingmoney.com in a previous article, " Leveraged buyout king KKR keen on Asia ," private equity, leveraged buyouts and other alternative forms of investing are increasing in India and throughout Asia.
With the size and the scope of the investing being considered, The Blackstone Group (BX) and KKR ( KKR , quote ) could be seen as functioning as a proxy for the Indian economy, acquiring their investing expertise very cheaply as both stock prices are down. Over the past six months, The Blackstone Group has fallen over 20% while KKR is down more than 30% for the same period.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.