Mumbai: ASK Alternates, part of the Blackstone-backed ASK Asset & Wealth Management Group, has launched its second private credit fund with a target corpus of ₹2,500 crore, including a ₹1,500 crore greenshoe option, a top executive at the company said.
The new fund will continue ASK’s performing credit strategy, targeting 14-16% gross internal rate of return (IRR) by investing in market-leading businesses backed by reputed Indian promoters, global private equity, and sovereign wealth firms, Shantanu Sahai, head of private credit at ASK Alternates, told Mint.
The fund will target an average cheque size of about ₹200 crore per every transaction. It is expected to invest in 12-15 transactions spread across infrastructure, healthcare, manufacturing, industrials, renewables, specialty chemicals, auto components and financial services – sectors that are considered high priority by the government. “This gives us a favourable policy environment as well as interest from offshore capital pools,” Sahai noted.
The company’s second fund will follow a similar strategy to the first. “Although we are targeting a larger corpus and a more diversified set of investor base and companies, the nature of businesses we invest in will continue to be the same,” Sahai said.
The focus is on senior secured lending with tangible collateral, while avoiding exposure to real estate, distressed debt, venture debt, and struggling or asset-light businesses.
The firm also focuses on capital preservation – businesses that will survive and flourish even in the event of an economic fallout. “Before investing in a particular company or sector, we also make sure to assess the order of impact that a particular event may have,” Sahai explained.
The launch comes amid intensifying competition in India’s market, where companies are increasingly turning to alternative lenders for faster and more flexible financing than traditional banks can typically provide.
Over the past 12 to 18 months, firms including DMI Alternatives, Ascertis Credit, Motilal Oswal Alternates, True North, Edelweiss, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Prabhudas Lilladhar, 360 One Asset and Vivriti Asset Management have launched new funds.
Global heavyweights such as Blackstone Group and KKR are also setting up dedicated platforms. The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) also announced a $2 billion plan to attract global capital into the asset class.
India’s touched $12.4 billion across 166 transactions over the last year, marking a 35% increase in deal value compared with 2024, according to a report by consulting firm EY.
First fund
ASK successfully closed and deployed its maiden private credit fund earlier this year. The fund was about ₹569 crore in size with an average ticket size of about ₹50-55 crore.
It comprised vintage, old economy and asset-heavy market-leading businesses with an average Ebitda of ₹1,700 crore, Sahai said, without disclosing specific names.
About 70% of the portfolio companies are either owned or backed by private equity investors, reflecting ASK’s focus on governance standards.
The fund delivered around 15% gross IRR. “Of the 12 transactions that we have done from the first fund, we have already exited three investments. We have also done three re-deployments and eight distributions from the first fund,” Sahai said.
The first fund was anchored by high-net-worth individuals and family offices with about 170 investors. Sahai expects most of them to invest again. “Now that we have established a track record and significantly improved investor economics, we expect some of the larger family offices and external distributors to be more incentivised to invest this time.”
ASK Group has increased its own commitment to the second fund fourfold to as much as ₹100 crore. The new vehicle will also feature a longer reinvestment period of 3.5 years and a feeder structure through , aimed at attracting offshore investors.
ASK credit arm typically lends to businesses that need capital to undertake corporate mergers and acquisitions, reorganisations and restructurings, promoter financing and can also offer flexibility in capital structure for other case-to-case situations.