Avendus PE Investment Advisors has launched its third private credit fund, Avendus Structured Credit Fund III (ASCF-III), targeting a corpus of up to Rs 4,000 crore, including a green shoe option of Rs 2,000 crore.
The fund is sector-agnostic, focusing on industries such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, manufacturing, consumer goods, and technology. ASCF-III will invest in secured credit transactions for operating and holding companies, alongside select hybrid structures.
The fund aims to build a well-diversified portfolio of 12-18 transactions with a target gross portfolio IRR of 16%-18%. Avendus PE Investment Advisors is the asset management arm of Avendus Group.
“With ASCF-III, we plan to focus on larger deals and businesses with typical deal sizes between INR 200 – 500 crore, along with leveraging Avendus Group’s strength of having proprietary access to corporates for origination. Combining a specialized multi-faceted underwriting approach with active risk management has enabled us to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns for our investors over multiple cycles,” Anshul Jain, Executive Director, Avendus Structured Credit Funds, said, according to a statement.
Avendus’ private credit platform, one of the country’s most active, has executed deals worth over Rs 12,000 crore in 12 years.
ASCF–I, introduced in October 2017, completed its deployment across nine transactions and fully returned capital to investors by June 2022, delivering a gross portfolio IRR of 18%. Meanwhile, ASCF–II, launched in January 2022, has been entirely allocated across 14 deals and is on track to achieve an anticipated gross portfolio IRR of approximately 17%.
“India’s mid-market enterprises are increasingly leveraging private credit as a powerful financing solution, especially when flexibility provided by capital becomes a critical aspect. With private credit deals surpassing $20 billion over the past 3 years, this asset class is bridging a critical financing gap which existed between traditional debt and equity, making it one of the fastest growing asset classes,” said Nilesh Dhedhi, Managing Director of Avendus Finance.
“As the private credit market matures, it offers both investors and businesses a newer avenue to achieve growth and strategic adaptability in an increasingly sophisticated financial ecosystem.” Dehadi added.
