In the coming years, the company will also expand its manufacturing capacity at its existing complex at Phillaur and set up a food park and manufacturing plant in Himachal Pradesh.
Mumbai: Cremica Food Industries Ltd, a Ludhiana-based food products company, has raised $15 million from Rabo Equity Advisors Pvt. Ltd, the investment advisors for India Agri Business Fund II (IABF-II), by selling a minority stake.
Cremica, known for its sauce, condiments and snacks, is looking to achieve sales of Rs.1,000 crore by 2020 from Rs.200 crore in 2014-15 and has been valued aggressively, given the huge growth potential, said Akshay Bector, chairman and managing director at Cremica Food Industries. He didn’t comment on the profits or the valuations of the company.
“Rabo Equity is delighted to invest in Cremica and believes under the leadership of Akshay Bector, Cremica will become a strong household brand when it comes to sauces, condiments, and snacks,” said Rajesh Srivastava, chairman and managing director, Rabo Equity Advisors.
This is Cremica Food Industries’ first round of funding, following the split of a well-regarded, family-held business of three brothers—Mrs. Bector’s Food Specialties Ltd is run by the eldest and youngest of three brothers, Ajay and Anup Bector, respectively; and Cremica Foods is run by Akshay Bector.
The funding will be used to expand Cremica Food’s distribution network to 120,000 outlets in three years from 40,000 at present, making the firm a pan-India company from a primarily North India-based company. In the coming years, Cremica Food will also expand its manufacturing capacity at its existing complex at Phillaur and set up a food park and manufacturing plant in Himachal Pradesh.
IABF-II is a $200 million private equity (PE) fund targeted at expansion and growth of Indian food and agribusiness companies in India by Rabobank along with other investors. Cremica Food is the first investment by the fund.
Rabo Equity Advisors advises two funds in India, IABF-II and IABF-I. The latter is a $120 million fund which is fully invested in several firms, including Prabhat Dairy Ltd, which recently came out with its initial public offering; LT Foods Ltd and Daawat Foods (P) Ltd.
