Kothari to launch Internet Opportunities Fund

CHENNAI: Kothari Pioneer, a mutual fund company, plans to launch its Internet Opportunities Fund, India's first fund with an exclusive Internet focus, soon. Vivek Reddy, Chief Executive Officer, Kothari Pioneer AMC Limited, said, "The new fund will capitalize on the dramatic growth of the Internet and its profound impact on personal lifestyles and the conduct of business and commerce the world over."

There are six broad investment themes built on the Internet: dot com and Internet companies;

e-commerce solutions providers; ISPs and portals; convergence plays on media, telecom and Intternet; Internet infrastructure and hardware providers; and businesses such as in finance, retailing, health care which are leveraging the Internet for strategic advantage.

The fund would invest in overseas listed ADRs of Indian companies besides investing 5 to 10 percent of the corpus in unlisted companies in the pre-IPO stage. The corpus fund is estimated to be Rs 100-150 crore. About 8 to 14 Internet companies have been shortlisted by the company to be funded. This number is expected to double in the next six months," said Ravi Mehrotra, Chief Investment Officer, Kothari Pioneer.

R. Sukumar, Fund Manager, said that the emphasis would be on companies with first mover

advantage and multiple revenue streams--initial subscription, annual fees, advertising, and

transaction based. The initial public offer of Internet Opportunities Fund is from January 31, 2000 to February 12, 2000.