Ranked #1 in the World
Thunderbird Hosts Private Equity Program in Mumbai
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011Thunderbird School of Global Management’s Private Equity Center (TPEC) partnered with Private Equity Pro Partners (PEPP) for the duo’s first joint program on private equity in Mumbai, India. The meeting, held at the Vivanta Taj President on March 9, welcomed over 150 entrepreneurs and investors interested in learning about opportunities in the Indian education sector.
Education is crucial in helping to reduce poverty worldwide, and the case for India is especially promising given rising income among lower-middle class families. As a result of this increased demand, India has seen several high profile US investors entering the Indian education sector—such as Sequoia Capital’s investment into K12 Techno Services Pvt. Arvind Mathur, Chairman, Private Equity Pro Partners stated that “ Private equity has a major role to play in India’s education sector not only in providing much needed risk capital but also helping to raise education standards to world class levels”.
During the one day conference, over 25 experts discussed several topics including: Role of Private Equity in Creating Value in the Indian Education Sector; Joint Venturing with Foreign Partners; Structuring Private Equity Investments in Education; and Raising Private Capital.
The panel presentations featured senior experts from Educomp Solutions, Pearson India, Wolfensohn India Advisors, Kaizen Education Fund, New Silk Route, India Equity Partners, and more. Keynote presentations were given by Ms. Indu Shahani, Sheriff of Mumbai, Member, Board of Governors, IBO, Geneva and Keki Mistry,Vice Chairman, HDFC-India’s premiere financial institution which has recently begun making strategic equity investments in the education sector in India.
The day following the conference, PEPP and TPEC teamed up once more for a full day educational Private Equity Workshop—a primer on private equity structures. The course welcomed 30 executive for lectures on How Private Equity Funds Operate; Sourcing and Closing of Deals; Exit Strategies; Due Diligence; and Raising Private Equity.
The lively discussions, led by industry experts such as T-bird alumnus John Cook ’79, Chairman, Rock Lake Associates; Dieter Wirth, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers; and Arvind Mathur, Chairman, PEPP and former Asian Development Bank, provided the audience a unique opportunity to learn first-hand how private equity functions.
In total, over 180 Indian entrepreneurs and investors attended the joint Thunderbird and Private Equity Pro Partners program for an extensive two day learning exercise on private equity in the Indian education sector.
Jim La Marche, managing director of the Thunderbird Private Equity Center, outlined that “we look forward to continuing to partner with Private Equity Pro Partners and toward having a sustained presence in the Indian private equity space. We are currently exploring ways in which we can have a greater impact on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance in the Indian market by working to have more a larger platform in India for some of our initiatives such as the Thunderbird Angel Network [TAN], micro-finance, and corporate learning.”
La Marche went on to say that “we are excited for the strong support of the local alumni [Thunderbird] chapter and key alumni in the realization of this initiative.” The program was heavily supported by Sanjiv Kapur ’81, current T-bird Prateek Jindal ’11, and alumni Monica Mehta ’00, Charu Modi Bhartia, ’97 Vice- Chairperson, Modi Academic Int’l Institute
Charu fdklafsj as well as TPEC Advisory Board member Amit Ratanpal, Director, Kaizen Private Equity.
