In an article for The Economic Times, Jaspal Singh Sabharwal of Future Capital, provides some interesting views on how Private Equity firms can deal better with promoters of Indian SMEs. On why SMEs? In India, if you want to invest in a cricketer, go to the Ranji trophy venue (equivalent of junior league in football). Stop chasing the established international players because they are just too expensive and you won’t be able to influence the outcome. Imagine if you had put in your money on Sachin 20 years ago. On PE-SME Alliances A successful PE-SME alliance calls for very high degree of caution and due-diligence. First thing first - companies should get into PE alliances only when they need to, when going it alone will take too long or cost too much or when one is seeking very specific capabilities. Too many PE alliances are built on the assumption that a good business case will compensate for differences in values, style or culture. A good business case is not really good until the ...