Kedaara Capital, the homegrown private equity firm with about $5.5 billion in assets under management, along with other investors, is preparing to sell Universal NutriScience (UNS), one of India’s fast-growing nutraceutical companies, multiple people familiar with the development told ET.
UNS markets Seacod, one of India’s top-selling cod liver oil capsule brands. The company is expected to be valued at around ₹3,000 crore. Investment bank Rothschild has been appointed to advise Kedaara on the sale process, the people cited above said.
Universal NutriScience was created in 2021 as a strategic partnership between Kedaara Capital and Universal Medicare. The company was formed after acquiring 16 nutraceutical brands from Sanofi India for ₹587 crore. The portfolio included leading brands such as Seacod, ECod, CoQ, Primosa and Collaflex, along with a large part of the marketing and distribution workforce associated with these products.
The company reported revenue of about ₹230 crore and Ebitda of ₹61 crore in FY25. According to sources, revenue is estimated to have grown to ₹350-400 crore in FY26, with Ebitda reaching around ₹100 crore.
Kedaara is seeking a valuation of roughly 30 times the latest Ebitda, which several potential buyers believe is steep. “The business is more realistically valued in the range of 20-25 times Ebitda,” said a fund manager at a global private equity firm, requesting anonymity.
Kedaara currently holds a 58.8% stake in Universal NutriScience, while Universal Medicare owns 28.1%. Universal Medicare founder Vikram Bodhraj Tannan holds a 2.7% stake and Shailesh Ayyangar, former managing director of Sanofi India, owns 1.7%, with the remaining stake held by other investors, according to Tracxn data.
Mail sent to Kedaara Capital did not elicit any responses till the press time.
India’s nutraceuticals sector has witnessed rising investor interest in recent years. Investments in the segment increased 2.5 times between 2020 and 2023 compared with the 2016-2019 period, while the global market saw a 1.7-fold increase over the same timeframe, according to consulting firm Kearney.
The surge has been driven by rising disposable incomes and growing health consciousness after the Covid-19 pandemic, which has made daily supplements increasingly common in Indian households. Digital marketplaces and direct-to-consumer platforms have also accelerated adoption by making nutraceutical products more accessible, the report added.
Globally, the nutraceuticals market is valued at over $520 billion and is growing at a compound annual rate of 8-9%. Asia-Pacific, the largest regional market, is expanding at about 8.8% CAGR. In India, the sector is estimated to be worth around $8 billion and is projected to grow at about 11% CAGR between 2023 and 2027.
The sector has also seen a flurry of mergers, acquisitions and private equity activity as pharmaceutical and FMCG companies push deeper into preventive healthcare.a
Source: Economic Times