India will continue to be Blackstone Inc’s biggest market in Asia and the big equity giant may consider investing in infrastructure in the future, a company executive said on Tuesday.
The US-based company, which manages nearly $1 trillion in assets worldwide, said India is one of its best markets. He is optimistic about the South Asian country because it is growing faster than other major countries and “young governments”, said Jonathan Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, in press conference time. India is an important part of the anchor of our strategy in Asia. Japan and Australia are following that,” Gray said. Blackstone said it manages assets worth US$50 billion in India, including in equity and real estate.
It has made more than $1 billion in real estate sales in the past year alone, Reuters reported. Private equity deals in India totaled $32 billion last year, down 27% from 2021. However, India’s share of total Asian funding fell from 16% to 25% over the same period. Gray said Blackstone would also consider investing in Indian infrastructure in the future, a sector where its peers such as KKR and Co and pension funds including CPP Investment Board and Pension Plan Ontario Teachers’ Retreat, are already active.
Blackstone plans to invest more in data centers and warehouses, said Amit Dixit, its managing director in India, following the rise of e-commerce and India asking tech giants such as Alphabet’s Google to store data market in the area. While Blackstone remains shaky in India, Gray said greater confidence in tax laws and capital markets will help increase foreign investment in India.
“The capital market has a lot of rules in India,” he said, making exits difficult. However, Blackstone considers the selection process in China as a geopolitical factor that has made it difficult to invest in the world’s second-largest economy, Gray said, in a rare public statement about the investment. and China, which is looking to boost its economy after last year. it recorded one of its worst growth rates in nearly half a century.
Joint ventures and private equity and acquisitions in China fell 67% in 2022 annually, totaling $36 billion, according to Refinitiv data. China’s share of total private business value in Asia fell to 28% in 2022 from 41% in 2021, the data showed.
The US government has stepped up scrutiny of US investment in China as the trade and technology dispute continues. President Joe Biden’s administration plans to ban investment in some Chinese technology companies and increase scrutiny of others, Reuters reported last week.