Bengaluru, India — Boston-based private equity fund Advent International announced Oct. 11 it's buying a stake in South Asia's largest PET bottle and preform maker, Manjushree Technopack Ltd., from an Indian investment firm. Terms were not disclosed.
Advent is buying Mumbai-based Kedaara Capital's 24 percent stake in the Bengaluru-based Manjushree and a portion of the stake held by Manjushree's founding Kedia family, which will now hold a minority stake in the company.
Managing Director Vimal Kedia and the rest of senior management will remain closely involved, the companies said in a statement.
Manjushree said it's India's largest rigid plastic packaging firm, with seven factories across the country and sales of 8.9 billion rupees ($127 million) in the fiscal year ending March 31.
Advent said it believes India will continue to move toward using more plastic packaging.
"The rigid plastic packaging market is expected to expand 15 percent 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," Shweta Jalan, managing director and head of India for Advent, said in a statement.
Kedia declined to share financial details when contacted by Plastics News, but said the Advent investment would let it maintain a leadership position in India.
"With the Indian rigid packaging industry expected to double over the next few years, we will look to further strengthen our foothold," Kedia said in a statement.
Advent Director Pankaj Patwari 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."
Bangkok-based SCG Packaging was also reportedly vying for a stake in Manjushree.
Manjushree has production capacity of 150,000 metric tons annually, and currently exports to Asia, the Middle East, Africa and North America.
It has customers in the fast-moving consumer goods, pharmaceutical and liquor industries, including for the Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Mondelez, Dabur, Unilever, Nestle, Heinz, Tata Global, and Marico brands.
Advent, which has $38 billion in assets under management, opened an office in Mumbai in 2009, and said it's been investing in India for 11 years. It has made five investments in the country in the last three years, and three investments in consumer packaging globally in less than two years.
Kedaara Capital acquired its 24 percent stake in Manjushree, at a valuation of about $100 million, in 2015. Kedaara formed in 2011 and has over $1.5 billion in assets in either managed or advised funds.
India's packaging industry is expected to reach $73 billion in sales by 2020, up from $32 billion in 2015, according to a plastics industry report from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries and Tata Strategic Management Group.
The report said the overall packaging industry is expected to grow 18 percent yearly, with flexible packaging and rigid packaging expected to grow 25 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
