Since 2005, Kotak Private Equity has helped discover,
grow and create value for mid-size Indian businesses
across growth sectors.
Overview
As part of the Kotak Mahindra Group, we combine our strength of understanding the local environment with international best practices in people, processes and research.
Given the experience and network of relationships built over the past two decades, our understanding of the Indian entrepreneur's mindset provides us with a significant advantage in the Indian investment environment. With a founding team whose members have been pioneers in the Indian private equity industry, we are disciplined investors focused on long-term value creation and growth. We partner with outstanding promoters and leadership teams to help create scale across industries. Through intensive research, we identify
macro-economic trends and opportunities early. Our team has successfully identified sectors and companies much ahead of the curve, helping us invest conservatively and exit profitably while partnering companies in tapping growth opportunities and evolving into industry leaders. The team at Kotak Private Equity has often been amongst the first to invest in India's sunrise sectors such as Life Sciences & Healthcare, Media & Entertainment, Retail, Quick Service Restaurants, Business Process Outsourcing and Internet driven businesses.
Investment Strategy
Discovering Future Leaders - As pioneers of the Indian private equity industry, our team is adept at identifying outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams of emerging businesses. We look for companies that have a clear business strategy with significant opportunities to scale up with a defendable market positioning.
Kotak Private Equity has different pools of capital to cater to the needs of different companies from early stage all the way to the late stage. While we have a preference towards sectors such as Pharmaceuticals, Life Sciences, Healthcare, Consumer, Technology & Financial Services, we are happy to evaluate investment opportunities in companies in other sectors with a differentiated business model that mirrors India's growth story.
Businesses should ideally have a strong competitive edge and long-term growth or more of the following areas:
Growth opportunities to gain regional or national market leadership
An IPR driven business with technology, product or a clearly differentiated market opportunity
An Innovative business model
We also look for outstanding management teams:
Experienced and passionate people with a disciplined and execution-led approach
Hunger for growth and a collaborative mind-set with due respect to partnerships
High level of integrity
Our Team
Nitin Deshmukh
Advisor – Private Equity
Nitin is a career Venture Capital / Private Equity professional with over 33 years of investment experience ..
Read MoreDhiraj Rajendran
Executive Director
Dhiraj Rajendran joined Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG) in November 2008. Prior to joining KPEG, Dhiraj worked with the mid-market investment...
Read MoreNidhi Chawla
Director
Nidhi Chawla joined Kotak Private Equity Investment team in April 2022.
Read MoreAnkit Aggarwal
Associate Director
Ankit Aggarwal joined Kotak in October 2021 as an Associate Director and brings with him 14 years of investment experience.
Read MoreDr. Ashish Ranjan
Vice President
Ashish Ranjan joined Kotak Private Equity Group in September 2021. Prior to joining Kotak Private Equity, Dr. Ranjan was at Sanofi India...
Read MoreDr Rushikesh Deshpande
Associate Vice President
Rushikesh Deshpande joined Kotak Private Equity team in October 2021. He brings close to 9 years of experience of working in Healthcare sector ...
Read MoreSandesh Soni
Associate Vice President
Sandesh Soni joined Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG) in May 2020. He brings with him 3 years of experience ...
Read MoreParveen Yadav
Associate
Parveen joined Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG) in February 2022...
Read MoreSuyash Poddar
Associate
Suyash joined the Kotak Private Equity Group (“KPEG”) in July 2022. Prior to joining KPEG, he was in the investment banking division at Motilal Oswal for three years...
Read MoreSuyash joined the Kotak Private Equity Group (“KPEG”) in July 2022. Prior to joining KPEG, he was in the investment banking division at Motilal Oswal for three years specializing in raising private equity funds across the consumer industry.
Suyash pursued his B.Sc. Economics (Honors) from Presidency University, Kolkata. He is an MBA for Indian School of Business (ISB). He has also cleared Level 3 of the CFA program from CFA Institute, USA; as well as the FRM program from the GARP Institute, USA.
Nidhi Chawla joined Kotak Private Equity Investment team in April 2022. She has been with Kotak since November 2018 and headed the Alternate advisory desk at Kotak Alternate Assets Managers Ltd where she was responsible for origination and diligence of PE/VC and Venture debt funds for advisory clients. Earlier she headed the Alternate products desk at Avendus Wealth Management Private Limited.
She has nearly 16 years of work experience with predominant focus in investment advisory. She started her career in financial services with HSBC Global Markets, London as trader in fund derivatives. Subsequently she worked at Canara Robeco Mutual Fund and Aditya Birla Money Mart Limited where she was responsible for financial planning and product diligence.
Nidhi is a Bachelor of Engineering from RV College of Engineering, Bangalore and has a Post Graduate degree in Management from IIM Bangalore.
Parveen joined Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG) in February 2022. Prior to joining KPEG, Parveen was in the Investment Banking division at J.P Morgan Services India for 3 years where he specialized in capital raising and M&A advisory for TMT sector in North America. He worked on companies across software and internet space.
Parveen pursued his B.Com from Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) and M.Com from Delhi School of Economics (DSE). He is an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Indore. He has also cleared Level 3 of the CFA Program from CFA Institute, USA
Ankit Aggarwal joined Kotak in October 2021 as an Associate Director and brings with him 14 years of investment experience.
Previously, Ankit has worked with Lighthouse Funds, Fosun Group and GKFF, investing in technology companies and public markets in US, Israel and India. He began his career with APAC focused hedge fund, Aeneas Capital Management.
Ankit is a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Nitin is a career Venture Capital / Private Equity professional with over 33 years of investment experience who has seen the growth of the VC and PE space from being a mere nomenclature to being one of the most preferred financing vehicles in the country. Nitin’s uncanny ability to identify trends and leaders in their infancy and helping them realize their potential, has been the hallmark of his career. He has lead and managed investments in over 70 companies, a number of which have grown at a scorching pace attaining leadership position in pharmaceuticals, consumer and retails sectors. Of these, the largest number have been in Life Sciences (Pharmaceuticals, Biotech & Health Care), many of them today's global players and include Sun Pharmaceuticals, Biocon, Intas Pharmaceuticals, Ajanta Pharma, Syngene, Manipal Healthcare, Natco Pharmaceuticals, Advanced Enzymes, Neuland Laboratories, Gland Pharma, Bharat Serums & Vaccines, Intas Biopharmaceuticals, Metahelix Life Sciences (since acquired), Rubicon, Fem Care, Medicorp (since acquired), Bangalore Genei (since acquired) etc. He was a member of the Board of Directors of most of these companies.
Since early 2019, Nitin has been spearheading Kotak’s investments in early stage investment program to support new age businesses and differentiated innovations especially in the life sciences sector in the country. The strategy here is to invest in transformational healthcare companies developing and commercializing novel therapeutics, medical devices and services that address unmet medical needs through innovation. The team has since built a sizeable early stage portfolio of companies in this space leveraging on extensive relationships with pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions to advance delivery of affordable patient care with determination to positively impact society.
Nitin has a strong association with the India's Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industry, having served as the first honorary Director General of Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), the apex industry association of biotech companies in India and serving as it’s Director actively participating in various policy committees related to Biotech Policy and Funding constituted by Government of India’s - Department of Biotechnology ( DBT) & Department of Science & Technology ( DST).
Nitin is actively associated with DBT and DST’s start-up funding initiatives in Biotechnology / Life Sciences as a member of their Investment and Advisory Committees as well as their mentoring activities. He serves as a member of the Board of Governors of Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) (formerly UDCT) and is also an independent Board member of Veeda Clinical Research , AGD Biomedicals, Gencrest, Advy Chemical and Samta . Nitin also serves as a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) National Committee on Biotechnology.
Nitin holds an MBA degree from University of Bombay and a Masters Degree in Pharmaceutical Technology from ICT (earlier UDCT), Mumbai where his research work led to a patent filing on machine design for the manufacture of Novel Drug Delivery Systems. He also completed the Post-Graduation Programme in Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Ghent, Belgium. Nitin is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2012 from the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai earlier known as UDCT.
KV Ramakrishna is an Advisor to Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG). He joined the team in October 2004. With over 25 years of experience in the private equity and venture capital industry, he is instrumental in building KPEG's investment focus with a value-based long-term investment strategy.
Ramakrishna's experience spans sectors like information technology, light engineering, retailing and services. His controlled risk strategy has helped identify local businesses with interesting growth ideas and predictable cash flows.
Earlier, he was associated with the Carlyle Group's Carlyle Asia Venture Partners (CAVP), a USD 330 million technology-focused fund. Before joining Carlyle, he was a part of ICICI Venture, the private equity and venture capital arm of the ICICI Group. Ramakrishna started his career with the Management Services Division of Tata Motors (then TELCO), India's largest automobile company.
Ramakrishna has a Post Graduate in Management from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore. He completed his graduation in Computer Sciences and Engineering from the National Institute of Technology at Warangal.
Dhiraj Rajendran joined Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG) in November 2008. Prior to joining KPEG, Dhiraj worked with the mid-market investment banking team at Kotak for nearly a year, focusing primarily on private equity transactions.
Earlier, Dhiraj was with J.P. Morgan Services India Private Limited working in their investment banking research division as part of the M&A advisory team for the Consumer, Healthcare and Retail sectors. Dhiraj started his career with Thermax Limited in Pune. At Thermax, Dhiraj worked in the treasury department, where he was responsible for investment management, cash management and select banking functions.
Dhiraj is a Bachelor of Engineering from D.J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Mumbai (specializing in Production Engineering) and has a Post Graduate degree in Management from NMIMS, Mumbai.
Rahul Shah joined Kotak Private Equity Group in September 2012, bringing with him more than seven years of experience across private equity, investment banking and treasury, of which the last three years were in private equity.
Prior to joining Kotak, Rahul worked with Multiples Alternate Asset Management and Fidelity Growth Partners India where he was involved in several growth private equity transactions across IT, Telecom, Banking, Services and Power. Before moving to Private Equity, Rahul worked in the Treasury and Investment Banking Group of ICICI Bank for four years where he led the TMT initiative for the Investment Banking group of the Bank.
Rahul is a CA, CS, CFA, FRM and MBA from INSEAD.
Sandesh Soni joined Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG) in May 2020. He brings with him 3 years of experience across investment banking, corporate strategy and system engineering roles.
Prior to joining KPEG, Sandesh was in the Investment Banking division at J.P. Morgan Services India where he specialized in M&A advisory for Diversified Industrials in North America. He serviced clientele across Aerospace, Automotive, Business services, Logistics and Transportation sectors. He also had a short stint in healthcare consulting and strategic partnerships at Philips India.
Sandesh pursued his Engineering from College of Engineering, Pune and holds an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Indore. He is also pursuing the CFA Program from CFA Institute, USA.
Prudhvi Raj joined the Kotak Private Equity Group (KPEG) in October 2017. Prudhvi brings with him ~ 5 years of investment banking experience with deal credentials in financial services, media and consumer sectors.
Prior to joining KPEG, Prudhvi was part of the investment banking team in Ambit with a focus on M&A and private equity transactions in financial services and media sectors. Earlier he was with the investment banking team of JM Financial and worked on multiple M&A and ECM transactions in a wide range of sectors.
Prudhvi holds a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and is a Post Graduate in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Ashish Ranjan joined Kotak Private Equity Group in September 2021. Prior to joining Kotak Private Equity, Dr. Ranjan was at Sanofi India, where he was leading consumer insights and new product planning for India. Dr. Ranjan was also part of the Cipla’s commercial and scientific diligence team with focus on building US specialty portfolio. He was primarily involved in assets identification and diligence based on scientific and commercial parameters ultimately to drive various acquisition opportunities from strategic and financial standpoint. He also worked as management consultant at IQVIA Consulting (formerly known as IMS health) where his work ranged from market access, commercial diligence, business strategy and health policy across life science/healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
He holds a Ph.D in Molecular Medicine from Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, Germany and completed MS in Business Management from Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. He received BSRT and Novo Nordisk scholarship respectively. Previously, he was also a fellow at the Institute of Medical Biology (A*STAR), Singapore. With more than 10 years of experience in research and industry, Dr. Ashish Ranjan comes on board with profound understanding of biological sciences and life science/healthcare industry.
Rushikesh Deshpande joined Kotak Private Equity team in October 2021. He brings close to 9 years of experience of working in Healthcare sector in India across strategy, corporate finance and investment banking roles.
Prior to joining Kotak Private Equity, Rushikesh worked with India Medtronic in strategy (Growth projects) and corporate finance teams for close to 5 years. As a part of these roles, he engaged healthcare ecosystem to create and analyze investment proposals for public private partnership (PPP) models, specialty clinics, capital investments etc. In the past, Rushikesh has worked with advisory divisions of Grant Thornton and Ernst & Young to help companies raise private equity funds.
Rushikesh holds MBBS degree from Indira Gandhi Government Medical College (IGGMC), Nagpur and an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Sciences (NMIMS), Mumbai.
Bharat Fritz Werner Ltd.
BFW is the largest manufacturer of CNC machines and machine tools in India. The company manufactures full line of CNC vertical and CNC horizontal machining centers catering to different industry segments. The company has a strong engineering base owing to its German parentage.
Company's customers include several leading companies across industry sectors like Honda Motorcycles, Maruti Udyog, Toyota Kirloskar, L&T, John Deere, M&M, Ashok Leyland, Cummins and Mico-Bosch.
The company adopts a solutions approach whereby it custom designs the machines to suit specific customer requirements and delivers an entire package including an efficient manufacturing process as well as the requisite tools. The company has designed low cost CNC machines for the small and medium enterprises making it one of the largest suppliers to this segment.
Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd.
The Mumbai based company has a strong portfolio of niche primary line, life saving injectables for snake bites, rabies, aplastic anemia, meningitis, kala azar, postpartum hemorrhage, and life threatening fungal infections post surgeries and organ transplants. BSV also enjoys good brand equity in the critical area of Infertility with its portfolio of hormones.
BSV is expanding through development and launch of new generation biotech recombinant therapeutic proteins, monoclonal antibodies, difficult generics and Novel Drug Delivery Systems where it is in the process of seeking out licensing opportunities for the global markets. Some of these products ready for out-licensing deals include Liposomal Amphoterecin B a potent anti-fungal agent for serious and life-threatening infections, Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin a potent anthracycline-based cytotoxic agent for the treatment of cancer, Goserelin Implants and Leuprolide Injection both indicated for hormone sensitive malignancies and gynecological indications and Recombinant Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) used to induce ovulation and spermatogenesis.
Minda Corporation Ltd.
Minda Corporation Ltd. (MCL), the flagship company of the Ashok Minda Group is one of India's leading automotive components manufacturer with operations across India and Europe spread over 20 plants. Apart from strategically located factories near the important auto hubs in India, it also has operations in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic.
It is the market leader in India with respect to supplying Automotive Security Systems to two wheeler OEMs. It also supplies products like Connective Systems, Plastic interior parts and Die-Casting products to various auto OEMs. MCL caters to large and marquee customers including Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, TVS Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Daimler Benz, Audi, Volkswagen and Fiat.
It also has a large presence in the branded after market segment in India for the products it manufactures.
Manipal Health
Manipal Health is one of India's leading integrated hospital services groups, with a strong presence in the south. It offers tertiary, secondary and primary health care services and has over 4,056 beds across 17 hospitals.
The company owns and operates 11 hospitals with 1,750 beds across eight cities/ towns and provides management consultancy to four hospitals with 2,306 beds. Its flagship hospital in Bangalore offers 60 super-specialties and is rated amongst the best in the country.
The group has a professional strength of over 1,000 doctors, 2,000 clinical staff and 2,800 non-clinical staff. It is currently expanding its owned and operated capacity.
Advanced Enzyme Technologies Limited
Advanced Enzyme Technologies Limited ("AETL") is a large Indian player in Industrial Enzymes.
AETL is one of the few manufacturers in the world that produce a full-spectrum of enzymes derived from all four natural origins - plant, fungal, bacterial and animal, and targets four key industry verticals viz., Human Nutrition, Animal Nutrition, Food Processing and Industrial Processing. The company has a strong R&D team that focuses on developing client/industry specific solutions using its own proprietary enzymes.
The group has a professional strength of over 1,000 doctors, 2,000 clinical staff and 2,800 non-clinical staff. It is currently expanding its owned and operated capacity.
Natco Pharma Ltd.
Natco Pharma Limited ("Natco") is a niche player in pharmaceutical segment in India. The Company has presence across the entire spectrum of pharma value chain - from Drug discovery to pharma retailing. In the Indian market, Natco has leadership position in Oncology segment.
The company is known for launching competitively priced oncology drugs that a larger segment of Indian population could afford. It is the first company in India to receive Compulsory Licensing for an oncology drug. Natco has a growing presence in the US and European market. It has partnered with leading generic companies for marketing of products in developed markets.
Natco has a strong pipeline of generic drugs, many of which have significant revenue potential. The company has a dedicated drug discovery research programme in Oncology.
Natco has 6 modern manufacturing facilities of which 2 have been approved by US FDA.