
JM Financial Group has introduced the first close of its maiden performing credit fund – JM Credit Opportunities Fund – 1 raising roughly $73 million or Rs 600 crore. The fund is managed by JM Financial AMC as its investment manager.
The Mumbai-based JM Financial Group will be investing debt capital in local companies through a new fund, adding asset class to its portfolio that already has private equity, distressed assets, non-banking finance and mutual funds. JM Credit Opportunities Fund – 1 is targeting a final close around June 2024 with a target deployment of close to Rs 1,500 crore including co-investments with JM Group, the company informed in its statement.
The fund will be managed by Pranob Gupta as the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer. Gupta in the announcement said “As per the current discussions, JM Credit Fund and JM Group along with associated co-investments has obtained Rs 600 crore of commitments which will be invested over current quarter.” JM Group targets deals ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 500 crore and JM Credit Opportunities Fund – 1 cheque size will fall between Rs 50 to 100 crore. Company further said that in March, the category II AIF registered with SEBI is a sector-agnostic private credit fund that aims to capture opportunities form the dislocations in credit markets caused by regulatory differences between banks and NBFC’s for both promotes and operating companies.
Anuj Kapoor, MD and CEO in Private Wealth and Alternatives Asset Management, JM Financial said, “This fundraise marks the first milestone of our credit fund business. it underscores the commitment of the franchise to the credit business, which is currently active through the NBFC’s (Non-Banking Financial Company), ARC (asset reconstruction company) and distressed fund formats. He also added “the fund also underlines the strong appetite of HNIs and family offices for this asset class. Over time, we plan to launch adjacent strategies in line with the firm and team expertise.
The fund was approved by SEBI in January. Leading Global buyout funds such as Apollo Global, Blackstone, KKR, PAG and Bain Capital already have private credit funds. In India many large financial group manage private equity funds including Piramal Group, Edelweiss and Kotak. Several other players have also entered in the sector such as Vivriti Asset Management, Arka Investment Advisory, Ask Group and Modulus Alternatives.