NEWS
Firms flock to set up Alternative Investment Funds in India
24 September 2012
Category:
News, Asia, India
As many as 20 entities are seeking Sebi's approval to set up Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), a newly created class of pooled-in investment vehicles for real estate, private equity and hedge funds, according to a report from The Economic Times on Sunday (September 23).
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has already allowed seven AIFs to set up in the country, all of which won approvals from the market regulator last month.
According to Sebi data, 20 applications were pending registration as AIFs as on August 31.
The regulator announced in May the guidelines for the new class of market intermediaries named AIFs, which are basically funds established or incorporated in India for the purpose of pooling capital from Indian and foreign investors for investing in accordance with pre-decided policy.
Out of the 20 pending applications, Sebi said 15 applications are "being processed", while the regulator has sought further details from five others as they had provided "incomplete information" as on August 31.
Most of these applications were filed in August, while some were submitted in June and July as well.
Sebi last month decided that the promoters of listed companies can offload 10% of equity to AIFs to attain a minimum 25% public holding.
Among others, the registration has been sought by CapAleph Indian Millenium Fund, DSP BlackRock, HDFC AMC Real Estate, India Advantage Fund, India Realty Fund, Kedaara Capital, Kotak Alternative Opportunities Fund, Real Estate Opportunities Trust and Start-up Village Fund.
More News >
Discuss: Firms flock to set up Alternative Investment Funds in India