Canbank Venture Capital Fund Ltd (CVCFL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Canara Bank, has invested Rs 25 crore ($4.56 million) in Gujarat-based Ashapura Garments Ltd for an undisclosed stake. CVCFL made the investment from its Rs 500 crore Emerging India Growth Fund, managed by Canbank.
Ashapura, a manufacturer of jeans and casual wear for men and women, will use the money to part-finance the setting up of a manufacturing facility at the Gujarat SEZ.
Promoted by Bharat C Vedant in 1994, Ashapura manufactures denim apparels and markets its products under brands such as Foster, Virgin, Winstone, Tess and Bluewings. The company primarily has presence in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa and West Bengal. Globally, it caters to Europe, Asia and North America.
Ashapura has a manufacturing facility in Mumbai with a capacity of over 1.8 million pieces per annum. It is now expanding this capacity and the upcoming facility at the Gujarat SEZ will be producing 3 million pieces per annum. The total project cost stands at Rs 111.4 crore.
The Emerging India Growth Fund is a $107 million VC fund, providing finance to seed and early-stage companies. It seeks to invest in IT/ITeS, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, telecom, healthcare, education, manufacturing, engineering, automobile and infrastructure space, and typically invests $5.3-10.7 million in its portfolio companies.
This is the second investment by CVCFL (through this fund) in 2013. Earlier this month, it put in $3.68 million in GNRC Ltd. Last year, too, the fund invested in the garments space and picked up 6.11 per cent stake in Scotts Garments Ltd for $3.68 million.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)
