Bringing capital
to life.

Mandala Capital is a vision driven investment firm with an aim to transform the lives of hundreds of millions of farmers, making agriculture more sustainable, climate friendly and resilient while increasing people’s access to affordable, healthy and nutritious food.

 

We are a financial-first impact investor with a focus on investments in the food and agriculture value chain across South and South East Asia.

The region and sector offer compelling investment opportunities with a young and rapidly urbanizing population of 2 billion of which half remain linked to agriculture, a rising GDP per capita and stable economies. The region stands as an agriculture powerhouse and a global leader in the production of most major fruits and crops.

Largely private, family-owned companies coupled with small holder farmer producers have led to the region falling behind global peers on efficiency, productivity and technology adoption, creating areas for value addition and economies of scale.

We partner with visionary teams and executives and provide extensive financial and operational support to create a network of industry-leading champions that can transform our outdated food systems and solve challenges in climate, health and nutrition, resource efficiency and rural employment.

Let Mandala’s Managing Partner Uday Garg explain our mission and investment approach to you personally.

“The next ten years will be transformative for the sector as it faces challenges related to supply chain, climate change and resource efficiency coupled with rising demand.”

The Mandala
playbook

We take a highly operational approach to deliver exceptional performance. We identify scalable companies with a sustainable competitive advantage and make them regional, national and global industry leaders that can deliver attractive financial and social returns for our investors.

 

 

Thesis driven

We are focused in our research to identify the right areas for investments within a very large value chain. This results in stronger conviction, a better diligence process and greater understanding of the right business valuation.

Deal creation

We look beyond the spreadsheet and take the time to understand understand strategic and operational nuances. We understand family-run companies and form strong relationship networks with partners, supporting them through both good and challenging times.

Deal structuring

We are innovative and creative in deal structuring, giving us the ability to invest across the capital structure to achieve win-win outcomes for both the companies and our investors.

Value creation

We are thought leaders in our field. Our deep network and sector expertise enables us to transform business models, create efficiencies, drive growth and help build more resilient and valuable businesses.

Our Impact

Impact Report 2022:
Investing in a carbon reduced food value chain

At Mandala, we are focused on making scalable and sustainable investments in the food and agricultural sector in India and Southeast Asia. We believe we have a critical role to play in harnessing the power of capital to not just to yield financial returns, but to also make a positive impact on the community around us, socially and environmentally.

At Mandala, we are focused on making scalable and sustainable investments in the food and agricultural sector in India and Southeast Asia.

We believe we have a critical role to play in harnessing the power of capital to not just to yield financial returns, but to also make a positive impact on the community around us, socially and environmentally.

The theme that we have chosen for our Impact Report this year is Combating Climate Change.

The topic of climate change is all the more relevant to Mandala given that it is inextricably linked to the food and agricultural sector. The relationship between food and climate change is no doubt a symbiotic one. It is clear that the transformation of the food value chain has a key role to play in not only adapting to climate change, but also mitigating climate change.

We are heartened to be able to make a real difference to climate change and we hope to continue working towards net zero emissions with our investee companies.

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News

Mandala Capital portfolio company Keventer Agro files draft papers for an IPO

The IPO consists of a fresh issue of ₹350 crore and an offer for sale of up to 10.77 million shares by Mandala Swede SPV that holds a 6.16% stake in the firm.

The company said in its DRHP that the “(OFS) includes 15.35 million compulsory convertible preference shares, which will be converted up to a maximum of 9.15 million shares prior to the filing of the red herring prospectus with the RoC, solely for the purpose of the offer”.

ICICI Securities, Axis Capital and JM Financial are the book running lead managers for the issue.

The proceeds from the issue worth ₹155 crore will be used to repay debt and ₹110.76 crore will be used for funding capital expenditure requirements.

As of March 2021, its total income was at ₹836.03 crore versus ₹958.25 crore a year ago. Net loss for the period stood at ₹76.18 crore against a profit of ₹3.42 crore last year. Adjusted total borrowings were at ₹236.20 crore.

Kolkata based firm is a leading fast-moving consumer good with interests in packaged, dairy, and fresh food products. Its comprehensive range of products spans across various brands and categories with more than 90 stock keeping units (SKUs) as of Mar 2021 and a presence across the value chain in the fresh, frozen and ambient long shelf life food product categories.

Its franchised brands include Frooti, Appy, Appy Fizz and Bailey in pact with Parle Agro. It has frozen food, UHT milk, milkshakes and bananas under the Keventer brand.

For FY21, the firm had 3,126 distributors and a sales force of 570 employees (including contractual) and sales promoters. It had 4,281 freezers, 2,891 iceboxes and 284 pushcarts in its target markets.

Its business is supported by manufacturing and processing infrastructure comprising a flagship facility at Barasat, West Bengal and food processing units located at Durgapur, Midnapore, Siliguri, Malda and Patna. The company is also in the process of establishing a food processing unit at Ranchi.

Mandala Capital buys controlling stake in India Cold Chain Player Gati Kausar

Mandala Capital (“Mandala”), a leading private equity firm focused on sustainable and scalable investments across the food value chain, announced today that it has acquired a controlling stake in Gati Kausar India Ltd (“Gati Kausar”) after carving out the cold chain business from Gati Ltd (“Gati”).

The transaction was envisaged as an amalgamation of Mandala’s business transformation strategy & focus on the cold chain sector along with Gati’s ongoing strategy of exiting non-core businesses.

Uday Garg, Managing Partner at Mandala Capital, said “Gati Kausar is an established, 35-year-old brand with a trusted name in the cold chain industry. We believe that under our complete ownership, the Company will be able to fully leverage our technical expertise and financial resources to realise its potential over the next few years. ”

Reports show that the Indian cold chain industry had a c.18% CAGR over the last 5 years and has the potential for increased and continued growth with 80-85% of the industry still controlled by unorganised players. The pandemic has further accelerated growth rates with the sector playing an increasingly vital role in the broader food value chain, starting from local procurement to last mile delivery. Demand from producers, processors, QSRs and retailers for efficient, cost-effective, and reliable supply chains remains high; likewise, the end consumer increasingly expects products to be delivered in a timely and safe manner.
“Increasing customer expectations can only be met through technology-enabled solutions and automation in the cold supply chain. We are working closely with various consultants and our sector specialists to bring best-in-class technologies to Gati Kausar that will increase efficiency and provide innovative solutions to customers,” added Garg.

Rakesh Pachauri, recently appointed COO at Gati Kausar, said “For us, customer satisfaction is of utmost priority and we are excited at the prospect of delivering more value to our customers in this new phase under Mandala Capital’s ownership. We are looking to invest in new vehicles, warehouses, and technology to enhance the customer experience and provide enhanced service levels. We also aim to expand the Gati Kausar family in various areas. With the support of our customers, employees, and shareholders, we believe Gati Kausar can create significant value for all stakeholders.”
CJ Shaju, CFO at Gati Kausar, said “The company has been generating operating profits for the past 3 years despite a difficult market environment and restrained capital resources. With access to a larger capital base post-Mandala’s takeover, we expect more growth and increasing profitability in the years ahead.”

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Mandala Capital and EFRAC featured by AVCJ

AVCJ recently published an article which highlights Mandala’s role in helping its food laboratory portfolio company EFRAC in developing its business and distinguishing itself as a leading laboratory in the region.

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