India Value Fund Advisors rebrands as True North; to focus on four new sectors

Domestic private equity investor True North (formerly India Value Fund Advisors) is stepping on the pedal with some ambitious plans.

The firm, set up in 1999 with an aim to invest in and transform profitable businesses, hopes that its investments in the next five years will overtake the $2 billion they have invested across different companies in their 18-year journey.

“We are working on a plan on how much capital could be put to work. It will be more,” says Vishal Nevatia, managing partner, True North, in a conversation with Forbes India.

“Over the next 10 years, we will be investing about 80 to 90 percent into four sectors: Health care, financial services, consumer and technology products, and services.”

Technology is the newest sector the company is starting to explore, but investments are yet to be made.

True North’s investments include  Manipal Hospitals, Cloudnine Hospitals, Aster DM Healthcare, Fincare, National Bulk Handling Corporation, Meru Cabs, ACT Fibernet, Hicare, Keya and deGustibus Hospitality (which operates restaurant brands Indigo and Indigo Deli, among others).

The re-branding exercise, Nevatia says, was necessary as the former avatar (India Value Fund Advisors) was thought of as just a local private equity fund. “We are more than that, combining the business-nurturing skill of a conglomerate with the sharpness of a private equity fund. Our journey begins afresh to finding a true north.”