OmniActive Health buys 85% stake in fragrance firm Indfrag for $80 million

Industry:    2017-01-09

OmniActive Health Technologies, a supplier of ingredients to the healthcare and food industries, has acquired a controlling stake in fragrance and specialty chemicals maker Indfrag Ltd for about $80 million, at least two people familiar with the matter said.

“The company was looking for a strategic acquisition for quite a long time. At the same time, it was also in talks with private equity (PE) firms and structured financing agencies for acquisition financing,” said one of the two people cited above on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to reporters.

“OmniActive will use the capital it raised from Everstone Capital to fund the acquisition,” said the second person, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

Sanjaya Mariwala, managing director of Mumbai-based OmniActive, confirmed the acquisition, saying his company has bought 85% stake in Indfrag and will buy the rest in a few weeks.

Earlier this month, OmniActive raised $35 million from home-grown PE firm Everstone Group.

“The purpose of the fund raise was to acquire companies. Some portion of the capital was used for the acquisition,” he said, without giving more details.

In September, Mint was the first to report that OmniActive is in talks for a significant stake in Indfrag in a deal that could potentially value Indfrag at around Rs1,000 crore-1,100 crore.

“We want to build up acquisitions as a growth strategy. So we will look on many more companies. We will learn and get better each time and then go for one more each year. We will raise some more funds and debt if required. I will dilute (my stake in OmniActive) but slowly. And finally, list in 3-5 years with an IPO,” Mariwala added.

An email sent to a Indfrag spokesperson was not answered.

Indfrag, a producer of natural extracts for dietary supplements, sports nutrition, pharmaceuticals, food and cosmetic industries, exports its products to North America and Europe besides Asia. It has two plants in India and a marketing and warehousing facility in New Jersey.

OmniActive was founded by Mariwala, who had earlier set up Kancor Ingredients, a producer of natural food colours, ingredients, essential oils, spice oils and mints and menthols. In 2014, France-based flavours and fragrance firm V. Mane Fils acquired a majority stake in Kancor Ingredients.

The company has state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, well-equipped R&D centres across India and Canada, and sales and marketing presence across the US, Europe, and Asia.

In the last 18 months, OmniActive claims it has completed 12 human clinical trials in healthy populations across its portfolio of branded ingredients. The company has a strong presence in the US and is working to achieve similar success in Europe and Asia.

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