Private equity firm Tano Capital set to pump $20m

NEW DELHI: Private equity player Tano Capital is investing close to $20m in Pune-based Virgo Engineers. Sources said the deal will be finalised by mid-August. The exact equity stake of the PE player could not be ascertained.

Virgo Engineers is a ball valve and valve automation systems company which was founded in 1986. Virgo has manufacturing facilities in Pune and Stafford, Texas.

It is one of the fastest growing valve manufacturers and its client list includes Reliance Petroleum, Novartis, Nestle, Rohm, Haas, Gail, North American Bechtel and Shell Brunei.

Virgo Engineers MD Mahesh Desai said the company hasn’t completed the deal and he would comment only when the deal is consummated.

Tano Capital launched by Charles B Johnson, chairman Franklin Templeton has an India dedicated fund called Tano India Fund I with a corpus of $61m, with plans to raise $150m.

The fund is managed by Hetal Gandhi, ex-ILFS head of I-banking and Carlton Perriera ex- KPMG head of corporate finance.

Tano Capital is essentially an international alternative investment management firm with investments in China and India. It also has investments in global hard assets.

Manufacturing has emerged as a hot sector for investments with close to 17 deals totalling $200m in the second quarter itself. This quarter saw PE investments of close to $3.5bn and this was the first time investments in manufacturing overtook those in IT.