Business IdeasCos submit proposals to become strategic investor of PIVF
Four companies including IFCI Venture, Capital 18 have submitted their proposals to become the strategic investor of state-owned Punjab Infotech Venture Fund (PIVF).
- Govt VCs look abroad for funds
"We have received proposals from four companies to invest in the Punjab Infotech Venture Fund," a senior official of Punjab Venture Capital (PVCL) said here.
Besides IFCI Venture and Capital 18, the other two companies, which have shown interest in the said fund are Subhkam Investment and Rahul Sales Corporation, he said.
Consultant Ernst & Young, which is a sole advisor to induct strategic investor in PIVF, would conduct the due diligence of the proposals submitted by interested parties.
"After receiving report from Ernst & Young, the Project Approval Board will take a call on selecting the successful partner in the fund," he said.
PVCL, which is an asset management company of PIVF, had invited proposals from private parties including private equity players, venture capitalists, banks and other financial institutions for privatization of the fund as well as investing in it so as to increase its corpus to Rs 50 crore in one year and Rs 100 crore in the next two years besides enhancing the operational efficiency of the fund.
With investors expecting to take majority stake in PVCL through this offer, the coverage of the PIVF has also been broadened whereby it would also invest in other sectors, besides IT and IT enabled sector, including bio-technology, specialized healthcare services, equipments, knowledge process outsourcing, environmental technology and cutting edge technology in telecom.
Though the performance of the PIVF has not yielded desired results since its set up, it has so far funded five companies such as SE Biz Infotech, Smart Data Enterprises, SM Law Digest, American Heart Care, Twenty First Century Battery for setting up their ventures in the state.
PIVF, a close ended fund, was set up in 1999 with a corpus of Rs 20 crore and its main aim was to invest in SME primarily engaged in IT and software sector.
It was set up by the Punjab government through its corporate bodies like Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (PSIDC), Punjab Information & Communication Technology Corporation Ltd (Pb Infotech) and Punjab Financial Corporation (PFC) in association with Small Industries Development Bank of India. In this fund, SIDBI has 50 per cent share, PSIDC and PFC with 20 per cent each and Pb infotech with 10 per cent share.