Affirma Capital, a Singapore-headquartered private equity (PE) firm with a significant presence in India, has cashed out of travel technology platform TBO Tek Ltd, generating a 12x multiple on invested capital (MOIC) and a 49% internal rate of return (IRR) in US dollar terms.
In a media statement, it said the exit had generated $468 million in capital gains, while the investment delivered a 14.9x multiple and a 54% IRR in Indian rupee terms.
Affirma Capital invested about $42 million in TBO in 2018 through a secondary transaction prior to its spin-off from Standard Chartered Bank, acquiring a 49.9% stake in the company.
“At the time of our investment, TBO was primarily an India business; the team has done an exceptional job transforming it into a globally diversified company…” said Udai Dhawan, Founding Partner and Head of India at Affirma Capital.
The PE firm monetised its stake over several tranches. It first sold part of its stake to General Atlantic in 2023-24 at over 9x MOIC in US dollar terms, followed by a partial sale in TBO’s IPO in May 2024 at approximately 11x MOIC in US dollar terms.
Since the IPO in 2024, Affirma has continued to exit through block deals and open-market trades, with the last tranche sold between July and October 2026 at approximately 17x its entry price in US dollar terms.
TBO is a global travel distribution platform that connects travel suppliers with buyers through its technology platform. It enables suppliers to market their inventory and set prices for buyers across a fragmented global market. The company operates across India, the Middle East, Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
Affirma Capital is an emerging markets PE firm run by former senior executives of Standard Chartered Private Equity. It manages more than $4 billion in assets for global investors, including sovereign wealth funds, and has offices in Singapore, Seoul, Shanghai, Mumbai, Dubai and Johannesburg.
“We see the mid-market as an opportunity to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns, targeting companies with enterprise values between $75 million and $300 million,” Dhawan had earlier told DealStreetAsia in an interview.
