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Private Equity & Venture Funding

Private Equity & Venture Funding

OVERVIEW

Acuity Law advises on all stages of fund creation, fund deployment and exits by investors. Our clients include private equity funds, venture capitalists, early stage funds, high net worth investors, founders and business entities.

ROLE

We advise on:

  • Indian laws relating to structuring onshore and offshore fund.
  • Drafting offer documents for fund raising
  • Advising on securities registration issues in India
  • Registration of funds with regulatory authorities in India
  • Legal due diligence of prospective companies
  • Negotiation assistance from term sheet stage till actual deployment of fund
  • Documentation and overall transactional support
  • Obtaining government and regulatory approval from various regulators
  • Advising and assisting on exits
Alternative investment funds (AIFs)

are privately pooled investment vehicles which may be incorporated in the form of a trust, or company, or limited liability partnership, etc. registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 (AIF Regulations) regulate the registration, operation and winding up of AIFs.

Here we deal with some commonly asked questions about AIF.

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Key Professionals

Souvik Ganguly

Managing Partner
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Shrishti Mishra

Associate
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Paridhi Rastogi

Associate
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Vidushi Maheshwari

Partner
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Related Posts

March 31, 2023

Foreign portfolio investors – streamlining the onboarding process

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 27 March 2023 issued a circular (Circular) to simplify the procedural requirements for onboarding and registration of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) by designated depository participants (DDPs), and to reduce the time taken for grant of registration to FPIs. We have summarised below the key changes introduced…
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March 23, 2023

SEBI Proposes Changes to the AIF Regime

The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has, in the month of February 2023, released five consultation papers proposing changes to the Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) regime in India, particularly in relation to: (I) eligibility criteria and qualifications for key investment team and compliance officer of manager of an AIF; (II) dematerialisation of units of AIFs; (III) buying and…
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February 9, 2024

Regulatory update: Indian companies allowed to directly list equity shares on international exchanges

The issuance and listing of equity capital of Indian companies is governed under the Companies Act, 2013 (Companies Act) and the regulations issued by the Indian securities market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The Companies Act and SEBI regulations allow Indian public companies to directly list their equity shares on a…
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April 8, 2024

Directors’ duties in India: Shareholders or Stakeholders?

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December 20, 2023

Changes to Alternative Investment Fund regulations

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in its 203rd board meeting approved amendments to the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 (AIF Regulations) (please here to view the board meeting). The amendments aim to facilitate ease of compliance and strengthen investor protection in alternative investment funds (AIFs). The key changes are as follows: A.  Mandatory Dematerialization:…
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September 13, 2022

Revised overseas investment regime in India

On 22 August 2022, the Ministry of Finance has notified a new framework for overseas investments by Indian investors. The new framework is aimed at liberalizing compliance and approval requirements in order to provide greater access to Indian investors to markets outside India. In this update, we have covered in brief, key concepts and changes…
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September 5, 2022

SEBI – Relaxations for overseas investments by AIFs and VCFs

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) vide a circular dated 17 August 2022 (Circular) has relaxed the guidelines in relation to overseas investments by Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and Venture Capital Funds (VCFs). The Circular can be found here. Pursuant to the Circular, AIFs and VCFs may invest up to 25% of their…
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April 5, 2022

Private Placement Memorandum

Alternative Investment Funds (“AIFs”/ “Funds”) are privately pooled investment vehicles which collects funds from investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investing such funds in accordance with a defined investment policy for the benefit of their investors. AIFs in India are governed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Alternative Investment Regulations), 2012 (“AIF Regulations”)…
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March 16, 2022

India update – Foreign Direct Investment in LIC

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (“DPIIT”) has issued a Press Note dated 14 March 2022 (“Press Note”), to amend certain provisions of the Consolidated Foreign Direct Investment Policy, 2020 (“Policy”). One of the key changes introduced by the Press Note is that foreign investors are now permitted to invest in LIC,…
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January 18, 2022

Liability of Investor Nominee Directors in Indian Start-ups

Introduction India has seen an unprecedented number of private equity and venture capital investments in the year 2021 - Indian companies raised over US$ 62 billion, across nearly 1200 deals. While such high and continuously increasing numbers are indicative of the growing faith of investors in Indian technology companies, a worrying trend has also been…
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July 16, 2021

Role of Green Bonds In India’s Climate Change Goals

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has made it abundantly clear that global scale disasters without timely mitigation and planning can have a deep and lasting economic and social impact. The Climate Impact Lab estimates that 76% of the world’s population will suffer from higher mortality rates and an additional of 9.1 million people will die each…
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September 29, 2020

Foreign Direct Investment in Indian Defence Sector – An Update

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September 21, 2020

REITs and INVITs – India Update

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June 16, 2020

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May 17, 2024

Regulatory Update: Second Amendment to Alternative Investment Fund Regulations

Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has notified the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (AIF Second Amendment Regulations), amending the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 (AIF Regulations). The amendments aims to provide: (a) ease of doing business and flexibility to category I and II alternative investment funds (AIFs)…
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