Edelweiss Alternatives announces fund raise of ~USD 425 mn under Special Situation Fund, targets USD 1 bn raise

Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors (EAAA), one of the leading alternative asset management platforms in India, today announced, raising ~USD 425 mn (INR 3,400 cr) in its third Special Situations Fund (ISAF III). The Fund has received CRISIL Fund Management Grading -1 denoting "very strong" standards in investment process & management practices. It has got commitments from leading institutional global investors, which include large insurance companies and pension funds as well as HNIs and family offices from India. The Fund is targeting to raise USD 1 bn with a green shoe option of USD 500 mn.

Special Situations strategy Fund (Series II), which had seen the largest fund raise in Alternatives in India in 2018, is on track to successfully deliver superior risk adjusted returns to its investors. Series II, apart from investing over INR 10,500 cr across deals, has also exited several transactions and realized more than INR 9,500 cr from portfolio companies. The Special Situations strategy focusses on asset heavy companies and identifies viable underlying businesses that EAAA believes, have a strong turnaround potential and / or invest in situations where resolution of asset requires capital and domain expertise.

Special Situation Fund (Series III) that was launched as "ISAF III Fund" aims to create value for investors on similar lines and has seen strong investor interest. ISAF III has raised INR 3,400 cr (USD 425 mn) and invested more than INR 1,000 cr in a short period of time in two bespoke special situation opportunities. Edelweiss believes it has a strong pipeline of opportunities in this space.

Amit Agarwal, Head, Special Situations Strategy said, "Special situation opportunities provide an exciting avenue for generating superior risk adjusted returns for investors. The Fund strategy caters to both corporates looking for specialized financing solutions to turnaround their business fortunes as well as financial institutions looking to sell / resolve their existing portfolio assets. Acquisition Financing under bankruptcy process is also emerging as a good opportunity set. We believe that the Investors in special situation strategy can generate high returns, akin to equity, while mitigating downside risk as large part of fund investments that are made in the nature of covenant-heavy credit instruments."

Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors pioneered private debt in India with the launch of the USD 230 mn (INR 1,000 cr) fund in 2010. With a track record of over a decade, it has built one of the largest Alternatives platforms in India with an AuM of ~USD 5 bn (NR 40,000 cr). Focused on providing high quality credit and yield opportunities to global and domestic professional investors across performing credit (corporate and real estate), special situations and infrastructure yield, its clientele comprises of Indian and global institutional investors - pension funds, insurance companies, large family offices and ultra-high net-worth individuals.

Venkat Ramaswamy, Vice Chairman, Edelweiss Group said, "We believe that the response received for ISAF III is a strong testament of the trust that our clients have in us as well as a validation of our asset management capabilities, strong investment track record, and high governance standards. The high-yield / special sits market in India continues to grow rapidly as requirement of flexible and patient capital is felt across industry segments."

Source : Equity Bulls

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EdelweissAlternativeAssetAdvisors FundRaising SpecialSituationsFund3 ISAF3