Mauritius based PE firm ChrysCapital has bought a minority stake in agrochemical company Safex Chemicals India for Rs 364 crore.
The transaction involved a combination of secondary sale by an existing PE investor, BanyanTree Growth Capital, along with a primary raise by ChrysCapital for growth initiatives, company executives said without specifying the quantum of stake.
Announcing the acquisition, ChrysCapital said that agrochemicals is a large and attractive market and that Safex Chemicals India has demonstrated a robust track record by significantly outperforming the industry growth while maintaining attractive return metrics.
“Going forward, Safex has multiple growth levers in place, from penetrating deeper in the Indian branded business to entering the technicals segment, which will further propel the company to become a marquee player in the agrochemical industry,” said ChrysCapital managing director Raghav Ramdev.
Safex Chemicals India, a 30-year-old Delhi-based company, sells branded agrochemicals for crop protection which results in better yields. It is planning to enter the business-to-business agrochemical and homecare technicals segment, said executives.
“We intend to leverage our strong management capabilities and ChrysCapital’s extensive network to drive Safex’s growth by bringing innovative products and solutions to the Indian agrochemical industry through mergers and acquisitions and in-licensing opportunities. Together, we are focused towards creating value for all our stakeholders” said SK Chaudhary, founder-director of Safex Chemicals India.
According to Safex Chemicals India, the company has outperformed the industry in nine out of the past 10 years and its revenues have grown at more than 25% compound annual growth rate over the past four years. It has a pan-India presence with a network spanning 10,000 distributors across 17 states.
Source: Economic Times