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SEAF India Agribusiness Fund invests in fertilizer maker Madhya Bharat Phosphate

By Madhav A Chanchani

  • 16 Dec 2013
SEAF India Agribusiness Fund invests in fertilizer maker Madhya Bharat Phosphate

SEAF India Agribusiness Fund, a private equity fund focusing on agriculture-related companies, has invested in Bhopal-based Madhya Bharat Phosphate Pvt. Ltd. The deal size was not disclosed.

The funds raised shall be used for expanding the current manufacturing capacity as well as for inorganic growth. The company is looking for acquisitions in the western part of India.

Madhya Bharat Phosphate, operational since 2002 and promoted by Pawan Agrawal, is engaged in manufacturing single super phosphate (SSP), a cheaper soil nutrient. Company has two operational plants with a total capacity in excess of 1.5 lakh tonnes per annum along with backward integration of its key raw material rock phosphate and Mining Rights.

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SSP is used in large quantities for replenishing ‘P’ (Phosphorus) in the soil which gets depleted steadily with each crop. This is a preferred phosphate fertilizer by the farmers as it provides much needed nutrients ‘S’ along with ‘P’ unlike other fertilizers.

Indus Advisors Pvt Ltd acted as the sole financial advisor to Madhya Bharat Phosphate for this transaction.

This will the fourth known investment by SEAF India Agribusiness Fund, which is managed by Small Enterprise Assisted Fund (SEAF). The fund has $40 million corpus, and typically invests $2-5 million.

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In April this year, SEAF India Agribusiness Fund, along with Sarona Asset Management, acquired a significant minority stake in Khyati Foods Pvt Ltd, which processes organic cotton and soybeans. Other investments made by SEAF in 2011 include cotton seed processing firm Abhay Cotex and Tropilite Foods Pvt Ltd (TFPL), a Gwalior-based food ingredients company.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)

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