GEF’s second PE fund bets on Ratan Tata-promoted Electra EV
Private equity firm GEF Capital Partners, which kickstarted the process to raise a new India-focussed clean energy fund with a larger mandate, and recently received additional Limited Partner (LP) commitment for the same, has struck a new deal from its second fund.
GEF Capital’s South Asia Growth Fund II, which hit the final close with $200 million corpus, has invested around $25 million to pick a minority stake in Electrodrive Powertrain Solution or Electra EV, an independent electric vehicle powertrain solutions company.
Setup in 2017, Electra EV is promoted by industrialist Ratan Tata. Electra EV designs and develops, integrates, manufactures and supplies EV powertrains systems across passenger & commercial vehicle segments.
Its offerings include battery packs, e-traction systems and integrated electronics, sub-systems, and components across multiple segments like two & three wheelers, four wheelers and EV applications in agriculture and off-highway segments.
Electra EV has its proprietary Battery Management System and Vehicle Control Unit solutions which enables it to offer integrated powertrain solutions for EVs. Through its R&D facility situated in Pune and manufacturing facility based out of Coimbatore, Electra EV provides solution and support to automotive OEMs.
The powertrains for several leading passenger and commercial EVs including Tata Xpres-T (fleet) and Tata Ace EV have been designed and manufactured by Electra EV.
Electra EV will utilize the capital for expanding its product portfolio across electric three and four wheelers, agricultural applications and other EV segments to serve both domestic and international OEMs and tier 1 automotive suppliers.
GEF Capital’s Managing Partner Sridhar Narayan said, “The EV ecosystem is currently at a pivotal stage, and we believe Electra EV’s differentiated proposition of high-end performance, safety and affordability provides a strong growth opportunity.”
GEF Capital, which was spun out of US-based Global Environment Fund in 2018, had floated South Asia Growth Fund II as its maiden fund as an independent firm. This fund succeeded the South Asia Clean Energy Fund. The first fund closed in 2010 at $128 million. GEF had teamed up with Indian private-sector lender Yes Bank for its first South Asia vehicle.
The second fund’s portfolio includes companies such as Prince Pipes, SeedWorks, Premier Energies, Syrma SGS and 3SC. The SAGF II is a 10-year closed-end investment fund. It aimed to invest in eight to 10 companies in India and Bangladesh. It had increased its target size last year to $200 million, a third more than the original goal.
GEF Capital makes investments in the range of $10-40 million in businesses that have an established operating profit of at least $3 million, according to its website.
