New York Life's PE funds invest Rs 50 crore in Adlabs ahead of IPO

MUMBAI: The Manmohan Shetty-promoted Adlabs Entertainment, which operates theme and water parks, today said it has received Rs 50-crore funding from New York Life Insurance-run PE funds Jacob Ballas India Holdings IV and Jacob Ballas Capital India.

The funding is part of the pre-IPO placement offering committed by investors in the IPO documents filed with Sebi this May, the company, which runs Adlabs Imagica theme park and Aquamagica water park near here, said.

Adlabs Imagica, located around 100km from here off the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, became operational last year, while Aquamagica, situated nearby, was launched recently. Adlabs is expected to open a hotel by next January.

Commenting on the development, Shetty, the film producer- turned-entrepreneur, said "with this funding Adlabs will continue on the journey to build a suite of first-of-its-kind entertainment projects in the country. This is another step towards our planned IPO."

Bharat Bakhshi, Partner at Jacob Ballas Capital, said his fund is very enthused with the performance and potential of Imagica as a world class entertainment destination.

Centrum Capital acted a financial advisor to the transaction.

Established in 1845, New York Life Insurance Company is the largest mutual life insurance firm in the US. One of the largest life insurers in the world, it also owns New York Life Investment Management that has $544 billion in assets under management.

Jacob Ballas Capital is a leading India-focused investment advisory firm. It serves as advisors to investment managers of three India-focused private equity funds with over $600 million under management.