JP Morgan to Invest US$800 million-one billion private equity in India

Posted by Reading Time: 2 minutes

 

Oct. 6 – At a time when banks around the world are closing, filing for bankrupcy or being acquired at all time low prices, financial services firm JP Morgan's CEO Kalpana Morparia, said JP morgan will invest $800 million-one billion as private equity investment in India over the next two years across various sectors.

In India, the firm was looking at growth opportunities, both organically and inorganically, she told the Economic Times.

"India continues to evoke interest in the global market with no decrease in global investor interest in India," Morparia added.

According to Bloomberg, private equity investments in India climbed 3.2 percent in the first six months of the year, bucking a 23 percent decline for all of Asia. JPMorgan, which acquired Bear Stearns Cos. in March in a bailout orchestrated by the Federal Reserve, has recorded about a quarter of the losses posted by Citigroup Inc., its bigger rival, after the U.S. home-loan market collapsed.

Private equity investments in India climbed to almost $6.8 billion in the first half, surpassing the $5.8 billion invested in China, as new investments in Asia fell 23 percent to $32.4 billion, according to the Hong Kong-based Asian Venture Capital Journal.

Private equity investment in India in the first eight months of this year is $8.6 billion, from $8.4 billion a year earlier, according to Venture Intelligence Ltd., a company that tracks private investments.

JPMorgan's private equity unit has so far invested in L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd., Apollo Hospitals & Enterprises Ltd. and Cafe Coffee Day, among others, according to Venture Intelligence Ltd., a Chennai, India-based company that tracks investments.

JPMorgan will expand operations in India to five branches from one if the central bank gives its permission, Morparia said.

The Reserve Bank of India limits the number of branches an overseas bank may open in a year and curbs their holdings in local lenders. Some of these rules are scheduled to be reviewed in April.