Samara Capital closes second fund with SMS Facility's sale to Norwest-backed SILA Solutions

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: Samara Capital has wrapped up its second fund with the sale of portfolio company SMS Integrated Facility Services to larger peer SILA Solutions Pvt Ltd, backed by Norwest Venture Partners, a top executive at the private equity firm said. The deal values SMS at an enterprise value of close to ₹275 crore.

The exit caps a 2014-vintage fund that delivered a gross internal rate of return of about 25% and returned more than ₹7,500 crore to investors, underscoring Samara’s track record as it seeks to close its third fund in the coming months and taps domestic capital for the first time. The second fund, raised in 2014 with a corpus of ₹3,000 crore including co-investments from limited partners, made ten investments, all of which generated positive returns, the firm said. “We could have waited longer to extract significantly higher value, but it is equally important to return capital to our investors in a timely manner while still optimising value," Anchit Gupta, managing director at the firm, said in an interview.

“The Ebitda multiple we achieved is in line with or marginally higher than listed peers and comparable business-to-business companies," he explained. The timing of the exit is significant as Samara works towards closing its third fund over the next two months. Historically, the firm has raised capital largely from overseas investors, but Fund III has also drawn interest from domestic entities.

“Around three years ago, the window for domestic investors in private equity opened up meaningfully for high-quality funds," he said. “We saw this as a strategic opportunity. These investors, often large family houses with operating businesses, create a powerful flywheel for us across