Kedaara Capital invests $32M in Mumbai-based Parksons Packaging

By Bhawna Gupta

  • 17 Mar 2015

Private equity firm Kedaara Capital has picked an undisclosed stake in Mumbai-based Parksons Packaging Ltd, a manufacturer and exporter of printed and laminated folding cartons, for Rs 200 crore ($31.8 million), the company said on Tuesday.

Parksons was backed by another Indian private equity firm ChrysCapital which invested Rs 50 crore in the firm way back in 2006 and held close to 21 per cent stake. As first reported by VCCircle, ChrysCapital has been looking to exit the firm for close to two years.

It could not be immediately ascertained if ChrysCapital has fully or partly exited in the latest deal and whether Kedaara also separately invested in Parksons.

A ChrysCapital spokesperson declined to comment while the spokesperson of Kedaara was not available for a comment.

Established in 1996 by Ramesh Kejriwal and managed by his two sons, Siddharth and Chaitanya, Parksons caters to companies in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, FMCG and household/personal care products. It has three manufacturing facilities across North and Western India.

For the year ended March 31, 2014, the company's revenues rose a little over 10 per cent to Rs 410 crore. In the same period, its net profit declined marginally to Rs 22.3 crore, as per data collated by VCCEdge, the data research platform of VCCircle.

“ChrysCapital has been a supportive partner in our journey so far. Kedaara’s operating model will enhance Parksons' performance, bringing in global experience and best practices," said Ramesh Kejriwal, chairman of Parksons.

“This is an opportune time to invest in the Indian packaging sector, with Parksons being well-positioned to benefit from the growth in the Indian consumption story,” Manish Kejriwal and Sunish Sharma, managing partners of Kedaara Capital Advisors, said in a joint statement.

They said Parksons leverages its exposure across multiple sectors, a roster of global and local customers and strong design and innovation capabilities to offer a unique value proposition to its customers.

For Kedaara, this is the third investment in the last one year.

In December last year, Kedaara picked a minority stake in Rajasthan-based non-banking finance company Au Financiers (India) Ltd for an undisclosed amount. Prior to that in April, it had acquired a minority stake in Mahindra Logistics, part of the multi-billion dollar Mahindra Group, for around Rs 200 crore.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)