Ambit Pragma to raise $150 mn for new fund

MUMBAI: Private equity fund Ambit Pragma is raising USD 150 million for its second fund and has already received commitments of USD 77 million for it.

The new fund-- Ambit Pragma Fund II-- is being anchored by the first fund's existing investors CDC and IFC, the company said in a statement.

Apart from the anchor investors, the fund has also received commitments from Unilever and DEG, who are new investors for the private equity player. The fundraising, being done in the difficult environment, will be done by next March, it said.

Ambit Pragma Fund II will be a small cap buyout and growth capital fund which will focus on entertainment, healthcare, FMCG, logistics and infrastructure services sectors, it said.

Its average investment size will be USD 15 million and will typically invest in companies having revenues of USD 5 to 15 million.

The private equity player's first fund was a USD 60 million corpus raised in 2008 which has been deployed in five investments, including city bus operator Prasanna Purple, contract logistics firm Spear Logistics and Beams, a minimal access surgery centres chain.