Perspective
Why partner-led still matters in Indian investment banking.
Scale is not the same as service. A note on why the next generation of Indian capital advisory will look more like a small house than a large bank.
2026 · Note 01
— Investment Banking · Strategic Capital Advisory
Where capital meets craft.
Folks House is an independent investment banking and capital advisory firm. We sit close to founders and promoters, and keep our counsel for the long arc of a company.
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Investment Banking✦M&A✦Capital Raising✦Private Equity Coverage✦Restructuring✦Strategic Advisory✦Since 2024✦Investment Banking✦M&A✦Capital Raising✦Private Equity Coverage✦Restructuring✦Strategic Advisory✦Since 2024✦Investment Banking✦M&A✦Capital Raising✦Private Equity Coverage✦Restructuring✦Strategic Advisory✦Since 2024✦
— The House
An Indian investment banking practice, with a long view of capital.
— About Folks House
Folks House is built on the belief that the next decade of value creation will not come from isolated transactions, but from architected ecosystems where capital, capability, and purpose converge.
Our partners bring three lenses on capital — law, operating and deep tech. We advise founders, promoters, family offices and institutional capital across M&A, capital raising, private- equity coverage, restructuring and strategic counsel.
— In numbers
01
Independent
Every mandate
02
₹1,000+ Cr
Capital advised on
03
0
Sectors of conviction
04
Pan-India
Coverage
— Manifesto
— We believe
Capital follows
conviction.
— We believe
Counsel outlasts
the transaction.
— We believe
The folks matter
most of all.
Scroll to continue
01 · 02 · 03
— Capabilities
What
we do.
Seven capabilities, deeply held. Each is led by a partner, runs end-to-end with the same partner, and gets the full weight of the house behind it.
01 · Capability
— M&A Advisory
M&A Advisory
M&A is the practice we are built around. We act as lead financial advisor on sell-side and buy-side processes for promoters, founders, family-owned conglomerates and financial sponsors — from confidential single-buyer transactions to fully marketed competitive auctions.
- Sell-side advisory & competitive sale processes
- Buy-side targeting & acquisition counsel
- Cross-border M&A & inbound coverage
- Joint ventures & strategic alliances
- Carve-outs, demergers & spin-offs
- Public M&A, takeovers & delistings
02 · Capability
— Capital Raising
Capital Raising
We raise capital for founders, promoters and family-owned platforms across the spectrum — Series B and beyond, late-stage growth, pre-IPO placements, structured equity, mezzanine and private credit. Each raise is built around the company, not a templated process.
- Growth & late-stage equity (Series B+)
- Private credit, venture debt & specialty lending
- Structured equity & mezzanine capital
- Pre-IPO and qualified institutional placements
- Promoter financing & holding-co capital
- Sponsor co-investment & club deals
03 · Capability
— Private Equity Coverage
Private Equity Coverage
We are a trusted point of access to a curated network of domestic and global financial sponsors — from large-cap buy-out funds and growth platforms to specialty credit funds, family offices and pension-led capital. Our coverage is partner-led, relationship-deep and built over years rather than weeks.
- Sponsor coverage & introductions
- LP-led and GP-led secondaries advisory
- Continuation vehicles & fund extensions
- Portfolio strategic reviews & exit planning
- Sponsor co-investment structuring
- Promoter–sponsor partnership architecture
04 · Capability
— Restructuring
Restructuring
We sit on the same side of the table as the client. Restructuring is counsel through transition — balance-sheet, operational and financial — and it is unforgiving of generic advice. We bring partner-level attention to lender coordination, one-time-settlement design, scheme architecture and stressed-asset transactions.
- Debt restructuring & one-time settlement
- Stressed-asset and discounted-credit advisory
- Turnaround & operational reset
- Insolvency, IBC & NCLT resolution support
- Scheme-of-arrangement design
- Cross-border creditor coordination
05 · Capability
— Strategic Advisory
Strategic Advisory
Some of the most important questions our clients face never fit a single transaction. Where should capital be deployed, and against what horizon? How should a family-owned group be re-architected for the next generation? How should a holding company be designed for tax, succession and cross-border deployment?
- Capital allocation reviews
- Holding-company & trust architecture
- Family governance & succession
- Board-level strategic counsel
- Group-restructuring & demerger design
- Family-office investment-policy frameworks
06 · Capability
— Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is a balance-sheet asset that most Indian promoters and operating companies still under-utilise. We advise founders, family-owned groups and family offices on building, valuing, monetising and transacting IP — from patent and trademark portfolios to copyrights, design rights and data assets.
- IP portfolio strategy
- Licensing, royalties & monetisation
- IP-backed lending & financing
- Patent & trademark carve-outs in M&A
- Royalty securitisation structures
- Brand & trademark valuation advisory
07 · Capability
— Litigation, Dispute Resolution & Arbitration
Litigation, Dispute Resolution & Arbitration
Disputes are inevitable in the arc of any operating business. Well-handled, they close cleanly and preserve enterprise value; poorly handled, they compound cost and damage. We advise founders, promoters, family-owned groups, boards and family offices on the strategy, economics and structuring of commercial disputes, arbitration proceedings and dispute resolution — from pre-litigation posture through settlement, enforcement and recovery.
- Pre-litigation strategy & settlement counsel
- Domestic & international arbitration advisory
- Commercial-contract & shareholder disputes
- IP, copyright & trademark disputes
- Enforcement & award recovery
- Third-party dispute financing (where appropriate)
— Sectors
Twelve sectors.
Long-cycle conviction.
01
Financial Services
Banks · NBFCs · AMCs · Insurance
02
Industrials
Manufacturing · Auto & EV · Defence · Capital Goods
03
Consumer & Retail
D2C · F&B · Fashion · QSR
04
Technology
SaaS · AI · Deep Tech · Fintech
05
Healthcare
Pharma · Diagnostics · Hospitals · HealthTech
06
Energy & Infrastructure
Renewables · Transmission · Logistics · Climate
07
Real Estate
Residential · Commercial · Hospitality · Land
08
Art as an Asset
Alternative Asset Class · Art Finance · Collections
09
Family Office & Wealth
Succession · Trusts · Holding Architecture
10
GIFT City & IFSC
International Financial Services Centre · GIFT IFSC
11
ESG & Sustainable Finance
Green Bonds · Climate Capital · Sustainability-linked
12
Special Situations
Stressed Assets · Distressed Credit · Recovery
— New Delhi · Mumbai
Where we sit,
and how we work.
A small team, with a big table. Long meetings. Short memos. The people who pitched the mandate are the people who close it.
— Selected work
A handful of
representative mandates.
An anonymised selection, illustrative of the kind of work Folks House is built for. Specific details are shared under NDA.
01 / 06
Sell-side M&A
Promoter-led auto-ancillary platform acquired by a global Tier-1 OEM.
Industrials
·India
02 / 06
Growth Equity
Specialty-lending NBFC raised institutional growth capital.
Financial Services
·India
03 / 06
Cross-border M&A
Premium D2C beauty brand sold a strategic stake to a global consumer major.
Consumer & Retail
·India → USA
04 / 06
Late-stage Equity
Vertical-SaaS platform raised Series C with a marquee global fund.
Technology
·India
05 / 06
Strategic Sale
Single-specialty hospital chain carved out to a listed strategic.
Healthcare
·India
06 / 06
Platform Capital
Hybrid renewables platform recapitalised by a long-duration sponsor.
Energy & Infrastructure
·India
— Insights
Notes from
the house.
Sector
The industrial decade — capital, conviction and the EV transition.
From auto-ancillary consolidation to battery economics, a thesis on where the next ₹1 trillion of industrial value will be created in India.
2026 · Note 02
Markets
Private credit comes of age in India.
What private-credit funds, NBFC promoters and LPs should learn from the last 24 months of structured-debt activity.
2026 · Note 03