PE firms pick up 10% in KPR Mills
A consortium of private equity investors namely Blue River Capital, Brandot Investments and Argonaut have picked up nearly 10 per cent stake in the Coimbatore-based integrated textiles company KPR Mills for Rs 105 crore.
The investment- largest by P-E funds in the textiles sector-puts the valuation of the unlisted company at nearly Rs 1,050 crore, 2.28 times of its sales of Rs 460 crore. Ernst & Young was the advisor to the company.
Shujaat Khan, managing director, Blue River Capital said it invested in KPR Mills because the promoters of textiles firm had the potential to transform the industry.
Blue River, which seeks to invest in family-run business as a first professional investor to help the management, has nearly $140 million under its management in India.
Brandot is controlled by Martin Trust who has been active in the apparel and textile industry since 1958. Agronaut Private Equity is a diversified fund with $ 2 billion under its management.
P Nataraj, managing director, KPR Mills said the capital infusion would help the company to capitalise on the growth opportunities in the market and would enable it to cater to high-value customers across the globe.
Anandakrishnan CR, executive director, KPR Mills said the company was in the process of expanding its base in the US. " We are in talks with a handful of he US companies," he said.
The list of clientele of KPR Mills includes C&A, Mothercare, Carrefour, Primark, GAP, Vetir SA and Ethel Austin. PR Mills in the implementing an expansion plan of Rs 500 crore.
The plans includes doubling of its capacities to 200,000 spindles and enhancing the garment production capacity to 60,000 pieces a day. It has wind power capacity of 40 MW.
The full benefit of the expansion will be felt from 2008-09 when it targets turnover of Rs 1,000 crore. The company plans to launch an initial public offering shortly
Source:
