Advent Int'l buys out Kedaara Capital's stake in Manjushree Technopack

Deal value undisclosed; Advent also picks up some stake from promoter family

US-based Private equity (PE) firm Advent International has invested in Manjushree Technopack by completely buying out the stake held by home-grown PE firm, Kedaara Capital, along with some of the promoter family's holding. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Manjushree Technopack is India’s largest rigid plastic packaging solution provider for the FMCG industry. Founder Vimal Kedia and the senior management team will remain closely involved in the business. The Bengaluru-based company serves a wide range of FMCG vertical markets, including home care and personal care products, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, dairy and edible oil.

Sunish Sharma and Manish Kejriwal, Managing Partners of Kedaara Capital Advisors LLP, said “When Kedaara invested in Manjushree, we saw a unique and scaled consumer derivative play, backed by a high-quality management team in the fragmented rigid packaging industry. We saw the potential for us to work closely together and build Manjushree into one of India’s leading brands in the packaging industry. During our investment term, the business continuously outgrew the Indian consumer and packaging sector and generated significant value for Kedaara and its investors. It is today positioned to further strengthen its dominance as India’s largest rigid plastics packaging solution provider.”

“Manjushree Technopack is the market leader in an industry with strong growth tailwinds,” said Shweta Jalan, Managing Director and Head of India for Advent International. “The rigid plastic packaging market is expected to expand 15 per cent per year over the next five years, driven by underlying growth in consumer end markets, the continued shift from glass and paper to plastic packaging and the introduction of new products.”

Pankaj Patwari, a director at Advent International, added: “We see significant opportunities to accelerate Manjushree’s growth by investing in innovation and new business development, expanding into adjacent geographies, segments and business lines, and acquiring other packaging companies.”

Vimal Kedia of Manjushree Technopack said, “We appreciate the support we’ve received from Kedaara over the past three years in promoting new business development, strengthening the management team, streamlining sales management processes and driving geographic expansion to build a pan-India presence. Now, we look forward to partnering with Advent, a leading global investor with strong knowledge of the Indian market and experience in the consumer packaging sector. With the Indian rigid packaging industry expected to double (in size) over the next few years, we will look to further strengthen our foothold. Through our new partnership, we will focus on consolidating our leadership position and taking the company to new growth levels.”

Kedaara Capital is an operationally-oriented private equity firm pursuing control and minority investment opportunities in India. The firm has made 10 investments since 2014 across diversified verticals, including consumer and consumer derivatives, financial services, industrial and healthcare. Kedaara has strong expertise in the packaging sector with its investments in Manjushree Technopack and Parksons Packaging.

Advent International has been investing in India for 11 years and opened a Mumbai office in 2009. The transaction is Advent’s fifth investment in India in three years and third in the consumer packaging sector globally in less than two years. Including Manjushree, Advent has invested approximately Rs 60 billion (nearly $1 billion) in seven companies with headquarters or operations in India. Recent investments include Dixcy Textiles, a leading innerwear brand; ASK Group, a leading wealth and investment management business; QuEST, a global engineering solutions provider; and Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, India’s premier supplier of consumer electrical goods, lighting and lighting automation systems.

Advent also has significant experience in the industrial sector, including recent investments in two other consumer packaging businesses: Færch Plast, a Danish producer of rigid plastic packaging for the food industry, and Fort Dearborn, a leading North American supplier of high-impact decorative labels for the consumer goods marketplace.

Manjushree Technopack Limited is South Asia’s largest PET bottle and preform manufacturing company. With 40 years of packaging expertise in India, the company caters to the packaging requirements of the FMCG, pharmaceutical and liquor industries, and works with some of the biggest brands in these segments. These include Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Mondelçz, Reckitt Benckiser, Dabur, L’Oréal, Unilever, Nestlé, Heinz, Tata Global, Marico and many more.

Manjushree is one of the top 500 mid-sized companies in India with a turnover of Rs 8.9 billion ($127million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, and a total manufacturing capacity of over 150,000 MT per annum. With seven manufacturing sites across the country, Manjushree has a pan-India presence and also exports countries in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and North America.