Abu Dhabi Investment Authority anchors India fund targeting distressed assets

Adia is partnering with Kotak Investment Advisors to target non-performing loan opportunities in India

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will help improve outlooks for firms in India. Delores Johnson / The National
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A wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) partnered with Kotak Investment Advisors to set up a $500 million fund that targets non-performing loans (NPLs) in India.

The Kotak Special Situations Fund, is being anchored by a commitment from a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adia and will target both pre-stress and distressed opportunities, with a key focus on providing financial support to pre-stress businesses to prevent them from entering insolvency, according to a statement carried by WAM.

"With a broad mandate to invest across asset types and sectors, our new partnership with Kotak will contribute to this process and help to ease the burden of NPLs on the Indian financial system," said Hamad Shahwan Aldhaheri, executive director of the Private Equities Department at Adia.

Adia holds direct or through its subsidiaries investments across various asset classes including equities, fixed income, real estate and private equity, among others.

The Kotak Special Situations Fund is structured as an alternative investment fund under Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI, regulations. It will be managed by Alternate Asset Management AMC - Kotak Investment Advisors. It will be led by Eshwar Karra, former chief executive of Phoenix ARC.

"The Kotak Special Situations Fund has been created to address the NPL issue and market dislocation by providing much-needed capital and momentum to finding resolutions in both pre-stress and distressed situations," said Srini Sriniwasan, Managing Director and chief executive of Kotak Investment Advisors.