Conference Panel: Infrastructure in India

Commenting on the delays in getting infrastructure projects off the ground toward creating a project pipeline, G.V.Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman, GVK Industries Ltd., pointed out that it is more important to get decisions made in getting infrastructure projects off the ground as opposed to developing detailed policy frameworks. That's the 30,000 foot eyeview of the problems in execution.

This, coming from an India company, seems to make sense. The India company has expertise in managing vested interests throughout the project lifecycle and a greater appetite for management risks.

Could there also be a realization that once Indian firms develop core capabilities and differentiate, a network of firms/ contractors/ sub-contractors model would become feasible?

Another thought that I would have like to pose to the policymakers is the consideration they give to developing policy roadmaps.

What do you think?

The Usual Disclaimer: This is purely a knowledge sharing resource. Ethically, context is everything, and I will gladly retract anything that affects the parties mentioned. Call this my mini OpenCourseWare, if you will, where Open signifies life experiences.

Conference Panel: Fundraising Darwinism- Evolution of PE fundraising

Bruce Rosenblum, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group, tore into the re-emergence of SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies) in the context of Private and Public PE companies. He pointed to two advantages PE firms would have over SPACs: diversification and GP incentives.

Given that there are many similarities between VC and PE fundraising, I was inclined to think that there was more to the comparison that what met the eye.
1> Was the PE firm structure an advantage?
2> Were the PE networks an advantage?
3> Were the PE firms able to gain efficiencies across investments that would not be possible in a different setting?

I queried Bruce for a comparison between Public PE firms and hypothetical mutual fund like SPAC aggregators (something I came up with to gain a better insight into his perspective). He had an interesting response.

What do you think?

Also, Francesco Guerrera, Financial Times, highlighted the paradox of PE firms going public. Bruce talked about KKR rasing $5 BN in public equity through Euronext at Amsterdam.

How do you think PE firms would deal with the q-on-q public market pressures?

The Usual Disclaimer: This is purely a knowledge sharing resource. Ethically, context is everything, and I will gladly retract anything that affects the parties mentioned. Call this my mini OpenCourseWare, if you will, where Open signifies life experiences.