10th Aug, 2021 - Mandala Capital backed Keventer Agro Ltd has filed a draft red herring prospectus with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise funds through an initial public offering. 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...
Mandala Capital is a private equity firm focused on long term and sustainable investments across the food value chain in India and South East Asia. We partner with visionary promoters and management by providing complete financial and operational support to increase the companies’ value and help companies achieve sustained leadership in their sectors.
SINGAPORE – 16th July, 2021 -- 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.”
Mandala Capital is a private equity firm focused on long term and sustainable investments across the food value chain in India and South East Asia. We partner with visionary promoters and management by providing complete financial and operational support to increase the companies’ value and help companies achieve sustained leadership in their sectors.
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.
Mandala Capital and EFRAC featured by AVCJ: Article Link: AVCJ (Needs subscription)
Mandala Capital is a private equity firm focused on long term and sustainable investments across the food value chain in India and South East Asia. We partner with visionary promoters and management by providing complete financial and operational support to increase the companies’ value and help companies achieve sustained leadership in their sectors.
Hear Mandala Capital CEO and Managing Partner Uday Garg, with Fred Rocafort and Jonathan Bench.
In this episode:
01:21 Introducing Uday
Jonathan introduces Uday, who developed Mandala Capital’s strategy, raised the current funds under management, and manages relationships with the firm’s partners and stockholders.
02:26 Breaking down the food and agriculture investment food chain
Whether it is the upstream, midstream, or downstream, value chains differ across products and geographies. Hear about how vastly different the dairy industries in the US and India are!
06:33 Why invest in India and SEA
Uday shares about Mandala’s passion for the region, which is home to a young population with rising GDP per capita, and a huge and growing middle class. Supply-side factors like poor infrastructure, slow technology adoption and a fragmented agricultural space lacking established market leaders make for an exciting space to be in.
10:30 Family business
With roots that originate from Uday’s grandfather’s seed company, Mandala Capital has an understanding of family businesses and how they work.
12:19 Mandala Capital’s playbook
Mandala’s Approach to deal creation involves spending a lot of time with companies to understand their motivations and build relationships. Quasi equity is used in deal structuring – a debt-like feature that potentially safeguards from the volatility that agriculture is predisposed to.
18:19 Agritech investing for productivity and efficiency
New money comes in primarily to increase productivity – through improving yield – and efficiency – by reducing costs. A prime example of this is the sugarcane business Mandala has invested in, which converts leftover fibre, from fuel production, to ethanol and other specialty chemicals.
Uday talks about Mandala’s approach to finding the sweet spot where commercial return and sustainable impact collide: it all boils down to finding businesses with good business models and unit economics.
Social Return on Investment (SROI) is the metric of choice for Mandala, which uses proprietary formulas to measure the wider impact from investments.
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