May 27, 2019

Avendus Fund invests Rs 40 crore in Bikaji Foods

Avendus Future Leaders Fund – I (FLF), a SEBI registered category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), under the umbrella of Avendus Asset Management, has taken a minority stake in International Limited, one of India’s leading ethnic snacks company. FLF, through a secondary transaction, purchased a part of the stake held by two existing investors - Lighthouse and Intensive Softshare.

Mumbai: Avendus Future Leaders Fund – I (FLF), a SEBI registered category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), under the umbrella of Avendus Asset Management, has taken a minority stake in International Limited, one of India’s leading ethnic snacks company. FLF, through a secondary transaction, purchased a part of the stake held by two existing investors – Lighthouse and Intensive Softshare.

Although the quantum of investments was not disclosed, sources familiar with the transaction peg it at Rs 40 crore.

“Bikaji has established itself as a leading company in the Indian ethnic snacks segment with a sizable market share, profitability and a platform geared for growth. With pan India presence and favourable macro tailwinds, the company is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years,” said Ritesh Chandra, Managing Partner and Head, FLF.

Bikaji Foods International Limited was founded in 1987 at , Rajasthan by Shiv Ratan Agarwal. Over the years, it has emerged as one of the largest manufacturers of branded Indian ethnic snacks with an extensive product range (including bhujia, namkeen, sweets, papad and western snacks) and has established a national distribution footprint.

The company used to sell its products under the Haldiram’s brand until 1993, when it parted ways with the Nagpur-headquartered Haldiram Foods International Pvt. Ltd and took the Bikaji brand name.

Apart from its home turf of Rajasthan, the company has a strong presence is a few other states such as Bihar and Assam.

Last year, the company was looking to float an initial public offering of about Rs 600-700 crore to help fund its expansion plans.

According to VCCEdge, Bikaji posted net sales of Rs 783.2 crore for the year ended in March 2018 as compared with Rs 608.7 the year before. Its net profit rose to Rs 53 crore from Rs 43.7 crore.

FLF plans to raise INR 500 crore from individual and institutional investors. The Fund, in its life cycle is targeting to invest in 8 to 10 companies with an average investment size of INR 40-75 crore.

FLF focuses on investing in ‘best of breed’ market leading, late stage private companies in the consumer and financial services segments. The Fund aims to explore opportunistic investment situations in emerging market leaders.

(As published in https://economictimes.indiatimes.com on , May 27 2019. )

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