Private Equity & Venture Capital | |||||||||||||||||
Private equity investments in India: a
legal and structural overview By Siddharth Shah of Nishith Desai Associates, Mumbai |
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The Indian private equity scenario has undergone a sea change over the last five years or so. There has been a considerable interest, both domestic as well as international, in the private equity sector which is evident from the fact that the total private equity funds (more commonly understood in the Indian context as venture capital funds (VCF)) committed to investments in India has increased exponentially. The following table gives the statistics of growth of the venture capital industry in India.
*estimates Source: NASSCOM: Study on Indian Capital Industry Though these numbers may not look substantial when compared to funds committed in other countries like the US and Israel, they go a long way in demonstrating the rise of private equity investments in India. Structuring of venture capital funds Structuring of private equity or venture capital funds in India requires special considerations from the regulatory and tax perspective. This article endeavours to demystify the legal and regulatory concerns surrounding the private equity funds in India. Domestic funds For domestic venture funds (in which the funds are raised within India), the structure that is most commonly used is that of a domestic vehicle for the pooling of funds from the investors and a separate investment adviser for carrying on asset management activities. For the domestic vehicle, there are two options viz a trust or a company. India at present does not have a limited partnership structure which is a common choice in countries like the US. The trust structure has been more commonly used since the company structure does have some drawbacks mostly arising from the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 which may conflict with some of the basic underlying principles of venture capital investments. Some of these concerns are:
Though some of the above shortcomings of the company structure can be addressed by carefully structuring the investment instruments, Indian venture capitalists have found the trust structure to be more favourable as it offers them more flexibility. Offshore funds Commonly there are two alternatives available to offshore investors participating in Indian venture capital investments. The offshore investors can either use an offshore structure or a unified structure. Offshore structure Under this structure an investment vehicle, which could be a LLC or an LP organized in a jurisdiction outside India, makes investments directly into Indian portfolio companies. There would generally be an offshore manager for managing the assets of the fund and an investment advisor in India for identifying deals and to carry out preliminary due-diligence on prospective investment opportunities. The structure is depicted in figure 1. Unified structure This structure is generally used where domestic (ie Indian) investors are expected to participate in the fund. Under this structure, a trust or a company is organized in India. The domestic investors would directly contribute to the trust whereas overseas investors pool their investments in an offshore vehicle and this offshore vehicle invests in the domestic trust. The portfolio investments are made by the trust. The trust would generally have a domestic manager or an adviser. The offshore fund may also have its own offshore manager/adviser. This structure also enables the domestic manager to draw its share of carry directly from the trust. The structure is depicted in figure 2. The regulatory framework In India, both domestic and offshore venture capital funds investing in India are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Until recently, SEBI only regulated the domestic VCFs vide its SEBI (Venture Capital Funds) Regulations, 1996 (as amended by SEBI (Venture Capital Funds (Amendment)) Regulations 2000) (VCF Regulations). However, in September 2000, SEBI announced a new set of guidelines enabling foreign venture capital and private equity investors to register with itself. The new guidelines are called the SEBI (Foreign Venture Capital Investors) Regulations, 2000 (FVCI Regulations). The SEBI (Venture Capital Funds) Regulations, 1996 Under the VCF Regulations, a venture capital fund can be organized either in the form of a trust or as a company. Though the guidelines do not appear to make registration with SEBI mandatory, SEBI has made its intention clear to regulate all domestic VCFs. The VCFs are permitted to invest only in venture capital undertakings (VCUs) which are not engaged in activities which have been classified under the negative list which broadly includes undertakings engaged in real estate business, non-banking financial services, gold financing etc. Furthermore, the VCU has to be a domestic company whose shares are not listed on a recognized stock exchange which means that domestic VCFs are not permitted to invest in securities of foreign companies. Eligibility criteria For registering as a VCF, the VCF Regulations, require, inter alia, that:
Investment conditions and restrictions SEBI has prescribed certain investment restrictions on the VCF both in terms of acceptance of contributions as well as for making downline investments in portfolio companies. These are as follows:
The mandatory exit clause in respect of unlisted investments has generated very strong negative reactions among the venture capital community in India and overseas and have demanded that in order to foster growth of venture capital industry in India, such restrictive clauses should be removed from the VCF Regulations. The Finance Minister has also made press statements in which he has indicated that this clause will be deleted in the near future. The SEBI (Foreign Venture Capital Investor) Regulations, 2000 An FVCI has been defined under the FVCI Regulations to mean an investor incorporated or established outside India, which proposes to make investments in venture capital fund(s) or venture capital undertakings in India and is registered under these Regulations. Unlike the VCF Regulations which seem to make it mandatory for VCFs to register with the SEBI, the FVCI Regulations does not make it mandatory for an offshore venture capital investor to register with SEBI as an FVCI. Also, the SEBIs intention is really not to regulate the FVCIs but to monitor the foreign investments coming into the domestic venture capital sector. Eligibility criteria In order to determine the eligibility of an applicant, SEBI would consider, inter alia, the applicants track record, professional competence, financial soundness, experience, whether the applicant is regulated by an appropriate foreign regulatory authority or is an income tax payer or submits a certificate from its banker of its or its promoters track record where the applicant is neither a regulated entity nor an income tax payer. The applicant can be a pension pund, mutual fund, investment trust, investment company, investment partnership, asset management company, endowment fund, university fund, charitable institution or any other investment vehicle incorporated and established outside India. Investment conditions and restrictions The investment restrictions applicable to FVCI are similar to those applicable to VCFs under the VCF Regulations (as listed above) except for the following:
The FVCI Regulations make it mandatory for a FVCI to appoint a domestic custodian for the purpose of custody of securities and for entering into an arrangement with a designated bank for the purpose of opening a special non-resident Indian rupee or foreign currency account. SEBI acts as a nodal agency for all necessary approvals including the permission of the Reserve Band of India for opening of the bank account. In addition to the above investment conditions and restrictions, there are certain reporting and disclosure requirements that need to be satisfied by a registered FVCI on an continuing basis. Taxation Domestic VCFs Domestic VCFs are entitled
to tax benefits under Section 10(23FB) of the Income Tax
Act, 1961 (ITA). As per this section, any income earned
by a SEBI registered VCF (which could be a trust or a
company) set up to raise funds for investment in a
venture capital undertaking is exempt from tax. This
section has to be read with Section 115U of the IT Act
which gives SEBI registered VCFs a pass-through status
whereby the investors in the VCF are directly taxed on
any income distributed by the VCFs as though the
investors have made direct investment in the portfolio
companies. The taxation of such income in the hands of
the investors will depend on the nature of income which
will remain the same as in the hands of the VCFs. The
taxability of income in the hands of the investors based
on the nature of income are summarized in figure 3.
FVCI There is no specific tax exemption available for the income earned by a FVCI. However, the way the Section 10(23FB) is worded, there is a possibility that even the FVCI would be entitled to the benefits available to domestic VCFs mentioned above. In the event that the FVCI avails of the exemption under Section 10(23FB), the investors in a FVCI would become liable to tax on the income earned by the FVCI as per the provisions of Section 115U. As per the provisions of Section 90(2) of the ITA, a non-resident investor investing from a country with which India has a tax treaty, would have an option to be taxed as per the provisions of the tax treaty or ITA, whichever is more beneficial. In light of this, the FVCI investing through a tax treaty jurisdiction may be in a position to elect to take tax benefits available under the tax treaty in which case the Sections 10(23FB) and Section 115U of the ITA should not be applicable. For example, if the FVCI is incorporated in Mauritius, the Indian capital gains tax on the income earned by the FVCI on its investments in India can be eliminated under the India-Mauritius Tax Treaty provided the FVCI does not have a permanent establishment in India. The investors in FVCI may also not be taxable in India. On account of its favourable tax treaty with India, Mauritius has become a favourite jurisdiction for investing into India. As a matter of fact, Mauritius has become the largest investor into India. In order to structure the FVCI through Mauritius and in order to be eligible to avail the benefit under the India-Mauritius Tax Treaty, careful structuring is extremely crucial. There have been instances in the past where the use of Mauritius as a conduit for investing into India has been looked upon unfavourably by the Indian tax authorities. In the case of NatWest, the Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) had denied a ruling on the grounds that use of Mauritius was merely for tax avoidance and the AAR need not rule on an application which is prima facie for avoidance of tax. However, careful structuring of an investment can reduce the risk of denial of Tax Treaty benefits. There has been a ruling in case of AIG followed by DLJ, wherein the AAR granted the benefits of India-Mauritius Tax Treaty and observed that if there was a commercial justification for setting up an SPV and then if the same was established in Mauritius, that per se should not result in denial of a ruling and benefits under the India-Mauritius Tax Treaty. In addition to the commercial justification, it is also important to ensure that the structure does not expose the FVCI to a permanent establishment (PE) in India. Under the India-Mauritius Tax Treaty, if the FVCI were held to have a PE in India, the income attributable to such PE would be subject to tax in India. There is a fair amount of subjectivity involved in the determination of a PE and hence very careful thought has to be given while finalizing structure, especially to the management of the FVCI. Conclusion The venture capital regime is still evolving and the government is quite upbeat on the future prospects of the venture capital industry in India. India continues to offer great investment opportunities in the knowledge sectors and these sectors are likely to attract lot more venture capital funds, both domestic and offshore. The regulators have also made their intentions clear that they are willing to go an extra mile to facilitate such inflow of venture capital investments into the country. As per the projections made by National Association of Software Services Companies, by year 2008 the total venture capital inflow into India is likely to touch $10 billion. For venture capital investors, this may be the opportune time to look at India as an attractive investment destination. |
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This article was published by Euromoney in IFLR (International Financial Law Review) Private Equity & Venture Capital Year Book, 2001 Copyright: © Euromoney Institutional Investor plc 2000 |