Aditya Birla Capital ties up with Värde Partners for ARC

MUMBAI: Aditya Birla Capital, the financial services arm of Aditya Birla Group today formed a joint venture with Värde Partners to set up a asset reconstruction company to pursue investments in stressed and distressed assets.

The company will evaluate investments across sectors, focusing on the acquisition, restructuring and resolution of the substantial supply of non-performing assets in India as well as special situations financings.

“Given the current landscape and further prospects in asset reconstruction in India, ABCL and Värde believe there is an attractive pipeline for strong capital deployment opportunities over the next several years,” said Ajay Srinivasan, Chief Executive of ABCL. “We see a large opportunity in the distressed space, especially in the mid-corporate segment.”

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One of the things that we bring to the table as a Group, is that we understand how to run many businesses, said Srinivasan. “We are looking at leveraging this skill set as we enter this new business,” he said.

In September 2017, Aditya Birla Capital received license from Reserve Bank of India to set up a asset reconstruction company.

“We see India as a core market for Värde and a critical part of our long-term strategy in Asia,”said Ilfryn Carstairs, Co-CIO of Värde Partners.

Värde currently manages about US$14 billion globally, and has invested nearly US$500 million in India in the past five years across corporate stressed, distressed, special situations and lending assets. With regional headquarters established in Singapore in 2008, Värde expects to open its fifth Asia office in Mumbai later this year, subject to regulatory approvals.