Nutraceutical ingredients maker OmniActive receives $ 35 mn from Everstone

It will use the money to execute acquisition opportunities as part of its inorganic growth strategy

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Last Updated : Jan 04 2017 | 12:37 PM IST

OmniActive Health Technologies, the Mumbai-based nutraceutical ingredients supplier, has received investment of $ 35 million (Rs 238 crores) from the private equity firm Everstone Group to further accelerate its growth in the fast-expanding nutraceuticals space. The deal is Everstone’s third in the healthcare and wellness sector in less than a year.

Founded in 2005, OmniActive is a leading supplier of naturally sourced ingredients for eye health, weight management and heart health to global nutraceutical companies that provide food supplements and nutritional fortification. It has manufacturing facilities and well-equipped R&D centres across India and Canada, and sales and marketing presence across the US, Europe and Asia. In the last 18 months, OmniActive completed 12 human clinical trials in healthy populations across its portfolio of branded ingredients. The company has a very strong presence in the US and is working to achieve similar success in Europe and Asia.

The Everstone investment - which gives it a significant minority stake - will help OmniActive in diversifying and expanding its offerings. OmniActive will use the transaction proceeds from this deal in its inorganic growth strategy and execute the acquisition opportunities it has identified.

Sanjaya Mariwala, managing director, OmniActive Health Technologies Ltd, commented, “We welcome this partnership with the Everstone Group. With the support of its experienced teams and funding, OmniActive looks forward to building on our history of solid organic growth by further strengthening our presence globally using innovative products and technologies. This will be done by also growing inorganically to bring a wider product portfolio of responsibly made ingredients to our customers through our strategic acquisitions.”

The global nutraceuticals supplements market was estimated at $ 108 billion in 2014 and is expected to touch $ 168 billion by 2020. The US is the largest market with slightly over a one-third of global sales. In India, according to a study published by Assocham, the nutraceuticals industry is expected to reach $ 6.1 billion by 2020. The growth in India will be fuelled by rising awareness about lifestyle diseases and the need for healthier lifestyles; the spread of urbanisation; an increasing middle-class population with more disposable income; and the rising demand for supplementary nutrition for a healthier life. As a supplier of nutraceutical ingredients to international markets from India, the gradual shift in the nutraceuticals sector towards greater consumption of natural products has helped OmniActive to grow its business manifold over the last decade.

The OmniActive investment will be Everstone’s fifth from its third PE fund (Everstone Capital Partners III) that closed in September last year, and the third in the pharmaceutical and wellness sector. It acquired a majority stake in Rubicon Research, a pioneering drug delivery technology company, this October that was preceded by Everstone taking a majority stake in Ascent Health, an Indian pharmaceutical delivery services provider, in March.

Everstone will be represented by Deep Mishra, managing director at Everstone India, who will join OmniActive's board as a nominee director, along with Dr Leendert Staal, an internationally reputed nutraceutical expert who was the CEO of the global industry leader DSM Nutritional Products from 2008 to 2013.

Sameer Sain, co-founder and managing partner, Everstone Group, said, “This investment aims at helping OmniActive scale its already strong presence in the fast-growing nutraceutical space.”