KKR acquires majority stake in Avendus Capital

Global investment firm KKR on Tuesday said it has agreed to buy a majority stake in the Mumbai headquartered Avendus Capital, which provides customised solutions in the areas of financial advisory and wealth management, for an undisclosed amount. According to various reports, KKR is acquiring nearly 70 percent stake in Avendus Capital, valuing it at $175 million.

According to the agreement between the two firms, KKR will invest in Avendus to fund the company’s foray into the credit solutions business and to grow its wealth and alternative asset management solutions offerings to its customers.  

As part of this transaction, KKR is purchasing shares from Eastgate Capital and Americorp Ventures, an early investor in Avendus. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.  

Avendus’s existing management team, led by co-founders Ranu Vohra, Gaurav Deepak and Kaushal Aggarwal, will continue to manage the platform’s day-to-day operations and its growth into the new businesses.  

“India is witnessing unprecedented demand for innovative and integrated financial services products as a result of rising entrepreneurship across sectors. Avendus is a world-class firm built and run by three visionary founders which delivers solutions to meet this demand by offering diverse alternative investment products and wealth advisory services,” Sanjay Nayar, member of KKR and chief executive of KKR India, said in a statement.  

Having created a platform which is trusted by entrepreneurs across industries, the mantra now for each of Avendus’s businesses is to ‘scale up’, says Ranu Vohra, managing director and chief executive at Avendus. “We have excellent potential to expand our businesses and to become a comprehensive financial services provider to India’s first-generation businesses. KKR’s capital commitment and support will enable us to provide a broader set of synergistic services and products to these clients, which can catalyse their growth.”