Rajeev Misra may raise $8-10 bn for his new fund, in talks with gulf royals

Masayoshi Son’s powerful lieutenant Rajeev Misra is looking to raise $8-10 billion for his proposed new fund and has had fruitful talks with funds in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia whose members are from the royal families and who were key backers of the first Vision Fund in which Softbank raised $100 billion.

Sources say it is also possible that Son may invest some money in the fund through Softbank or other vehicles, although this could not be confirmed.   

Misra, 60, came for a quiet visit to Delhi on Thursday when Son’s memo was circulated among Softbank employees. He threw a dinner party at his farm house in Chhatarpur which was attended by many of the  founders in which Son had invested, senior Softbank executives, leaders of other private equity funds such as Sequoia and  KKR, and colleagues from abroad and friends such as Spicejet CMD Ajay Singh. 

They also say that Misra will be travelling frequently to and from London where he will continue to oversee the first Vision fund and to Abu Dhabi and Dubai for his own fund. He has told colleagues that it will take a year to put things together.

THE ROAD AHEAD 

• Misra will be travelling to and from London where he will continue to oversee the first Vision fund and to Abu Dhabi and Dubai for his own fund 
• Fund likely to be joined by some ex-Softbank executives who worked closely with him, including Akshay Naheta 

Sources say that his fund will be joined by some ex-Softbank executives who worked closely with him, including Akshay Naheta.

Misra has close relationships with the west Asian funds; he was instrumental in bringing in Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi government’s sovereign fund, as a key investor in the first vision fund and it is believed he is close to striking a deal with them again.

According to reports, talks are also on with Chimera Capital, an investment vehicle controlled by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security advisor. Other reports say that Misra has developed strong ties with sovereign funds such as the Public Investment Board of Saudi Arabia which put a staggering $45 billion into Softbank’s first vision fund and bet big on Son.

Softbank said Misra was not available for comment. 

Those in the know say that, apart from technology which was a key area of investment with Son, he might also leverage his strength in debt restructuring which made him well known in the UBS group as well as Deutsche Bank where he had earlier stints.