Private Equity Professionals

Miranda resigns as IDFC Private Equity CEO

The CEO of India’s largest infrastructure-focused private equity firm will assume the role of non-executive chairman, effective 1 November.

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IDFC Private Equity is the latest private equity firm to set succession plans in motion: Luis Miranda, who has steered the infrastructure-focused firm for eight years, will relinquish his chief executive role effective 1 November.

“As part of a succession planning process, Luis Miranda will be stepping into the role of a non-executive chairman of IDFC Private Equity by November 1, 2010.  Until then he will continue in his current role as president and CEO of IDFC Private Equity,” Rajiv Lall, managing director and chief executive officer of parent company IDFC, said in an emailed statement.

A successor has not yet been named.

The timing of this reflects the fact that IDFC Private Equity is now a mature, well-established business with three funds and $1.3 billion under management. This is the right time to be making a transition of this nature.

Luis Miranda
In his new role, Miranda will remain responsible for supporting investor and portfolio company relationships and providing counsel to the investment team, Lall added. Upon the completion of the transition, he will spend a greater amount of time in the new role as opposed to the day-today management of the private equity business.

“The timing of this reflects the fact that IDFC Private Equity is now a mature, well-established business with three funds and $1.3 billion under management. This is the right time to be making a transition of this nature,” Miranda said in the statement. 

Miranda helped found IDFC Private Equity in 2002. Since inception eight years ago, the firm has grown to become India’s largest infrastructure-focused private equity fund manager and currently has more than $1.3 billion in assets under management.
 

Luis Miranda
The Mumbai-based firm closed its most recent fund, IDFC Private Equity Fund III, on its $700 million hard cap in 2008. That fund was targeting commitments of $600 million. India Development Fund, the firm’s maiden fund, closed on $192 million in 2004, and the firm closed IDFC Private Equity Fund II on $440 million in the year 2006.

IDFC Private Equity, one of the most active investors in India’s infrastructure space, is focused on investments in power, telecommunication, oil and gas, transportation, social infrastructure, urban infrastructure and rural infrastructure. The firm typically invests up to $140 million in a portfolio company, although its preferred deal size is between $40 million and $100 million per transaction. 

IDFC Private Equity won the award for the best private equity firm in India at the Private Equity International Awards 2009 and the best Asian infrastructure fund manager of the year at the Infrastructure Investor Awards 2009.

Prior to setting up IDFC Private Equity in 2002, Miranda was a partner at New Delhi-headquartered ChrysCapital, one of India’s largest private equity firms. Before joining Chrys, Miranda spent 11 years in sales and trading and was one of the members of the start-up team at India’s HDFC Bank. He has also previously worked for HSBC Markets, Citibank, KPMG and Price Waterhouse.

Miranda is currently the co-chairman of the India Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (IVCA) and a director of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association.