Mumbai-based Neo Asset Management has marked the first close of its flagship private equity secondaries fund, raising Rs 750 crore (about $90 million) in less than three months since its launch.
The Neo Secondaries Fund (NSF), registered as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), is targeting a total corpus of Rs 2,000 crore ($240 million). It will focus on acquiring secondary stakes in late-stage, privately held Indian companies that have demonstrated profitability and consistent revenue growth.
The fund has already deployed/committed over Rs 550 crore across three single-asset deals and one multi-asset portfolio, including stakes in Fractal Analytics, Purplle, Nobel Hygiene, and a digital identity company. It is also understood to have recently signed a multi-asset transaction with a domestic venture capital firm and is evaluating a deal pipeline worth Rs 7,000 crore, per company disclosures.
Neo is targeting companies with positive EBITDA, revenue CAGRs of at least 20% over the last three years, and a clear path to exit within 24-48 months. NSF will invest between Rs 50 crore and Rs 250 crore per deal across 12-15 transactions, with a planned holding period of up to six years.
The fund’s strategy reflects a broader shift in India’s maturing private equity landscape, where secondary transactions are emerging as a key liquidity solution. A growing number of early-stage investors and funds nearing the end of their lifecycle are seeking timely exits, even as primary capital becomes more selective. At the same time, new investors are looking to back proven companies at discounted entry valuations, with shorter durations to liquidity.
“We are seeing growing demand for secondary capital in India as early investors look for liquidity and companies continue to scale,” said Nitin Agarwal, Head of Private Equity at Neo and former India lead at TPG NewQuest.
“New investors benefit from quicker cash flows and shorter holding periods, making secondaries a compelling strategy in India’s evolving private equity ecosystem. With increasing exit pressure on older funds, secondary deals offer a practical path to cash flows while also addressing distribution-to-paid-in (DPI) concerns,” Agarwal added.
Globally, private equity secondaries have delivered dollar IRRs of around 23%, compared to long-term benchmarks of 15% for listed equities. In India, only a quarter of the Rs 30 lakh crore raised in PE/VC over the past decade has been exited, pointing to a gap that funds like NSF aim to address.
Neo Asset Management currently manages over Rs 13,500 crore across strategies including credit, private equity, special situations, infrastructure, and structured debt. NSF marks its most prominent foray into the private equity space.
Earlier this month, Neo Asset Management closed its flagship Neo Infrastructure Income Opportunities Fund (NIIOF) with commitments totalling $268 million, surpassing its original target of Rs 2,000 crore by 15%.
NIIOF has already invested/committed Rs 1,200 crore of investments across a variety of diversified road and solar portfolios and is evaluating highway/expressway projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) having equity value of more than Rs 2,000 crore.
