Emerging Markets Watch with Hasit Vibhakar

May 18, 2008 - PRLog -- If you're corporate executive pursuing growth strategies in China or India, there's a wealth of resources out there. But whether they're surveys or reports from consultants, presentations at conferences around the world or reports from news organizations, the trick is finding and making sense of them. That's the purpose of our emerging markets watch interview with Hasit Vibhakar

We start with a view from the private equity crowd, in our discussions with Hasit Vibhakar Managing Director of an Emerging Markets Fund had to say the credit crunch is creating opportunities in India and China. At the 2008 Texas Association for Capital Growth Capital Connection, Hasit Vibhakar addressed keynote introduction speech for Emerging Markets Watch In India & China. He also discussed China's many regional differences and lack of transparency. "One large company that I looked at had four sets of books, and about 75% of its sales were not invoiced," he said. That hasn't stopped foreign investors from coming to China, though; foreign investment in China rose 38.3% in February from a year ago to $6.9 billion, the Commerce Ministry reported.  (Full keynote speech via transcript by Hasit Vibhakar is available)

The discussion with Hasit Vibhakar offers some insight on the role of corporate governance in the two countries. Hasit Vibhakar says Indian companies are much better governed and that India is sort of a noisier version of the U.S. system. He does state the two (china & India) are almost equal when it comes to corruption, though at least China's is "constructive." Here's a survey on that matter; China ranked more corrupt then India in the survey.

Hasit Vibhakar in his discussion addressed China has been the destination of choice for U.S. companies for some time. He points out that obvious deals have already been done and new rules concerning the use of special purpose vehicles have reduced their attractiveness as a route into China. He also delves into the strong surge of M&A coming from Indian firms that may be willing to partner up at home.

Grant Thornton's Deal tracker took a snapshot of the early M&A numbers in India for '08, citing acquisitions such as Walt Disney Co.'s acquisition of a 17.2% stake in UTV Software Communication to increase its stake to 32.10% in the company.

Hasit Vibhakar pointed out that if you're looking for any good books on the subject, check out "Riding the Indian Tiger: Understanding India -- the World's Fastest Growing Market." The author is William Nobrega, president and founder of the Conrad Group, a consulting firm specializing in emerging market strategic planning and M&A. Hasit Vibhakar provided us with the following excerpt as part of the conclusion to his keynote address.

India is poised to overtake China in 2008 as the world's fastest growing economy and is becoming one of the largest economies globally. Direct foreign investment in India has increased dramatically over the past three years and the pace of activity continues to quicken as large private equity funds create new emerging market funds and corporations continue to look for new revenue growth. The middle is expected to grow from 90 million individuals today to 351 million individuals by 2010, and the retail market is expected to grow from $300 billion today to $637 billion by 2015. However, many companies have yet to take a close look at India, and the information they currently have is limited and/or outdated. Riding the Indian Tiger will provide individuals and groups that have an interest in this vast market with a detailed picture of the economic opportunities it may provide.  (Full keynote speech via transcript by Hasit Vibhakar is available)


About Hasit Vibhakar

Hasit Vibhakar is a Managing Partner at a Private Equity Firm providing equity & debt financing to early stage companies. We specialize in capital deal flow and investment banking globally.  A proven leader in seed stage venture investing.  We support entrepreneurs in early stage companies with strategic advice, access and capital.