Convergent Finance LLP, the private equity firm floated by former Fairfax India executive Harsha Raghavan, will invest $14.1 million (nearly Rs 107 crore at current exchange rate) in Jyoti International Foods Pvt. Ltd, a supply chain solutions provider for the food services industry.
As part of the deal, Mumbai-based Convergent will pick up a significant minority stake in Pune-headquartered Jyoti.
This marks the one-and-a-half-year-old Convergent Finance’s third bet, with one of its other two investments being a food production company.
Jyoti, which began operations in 2005, focuses on services including distribution, logistics, supply chain management, warehousing, and procurement planning.
This capital will be used by Jyoti for upgrading its technology stack and developing new markets for its services. It will also use the money for merger and acquisition and business expansion.
“Given our track record of working with great platform companies to help transform them into global leaders, Jyoti will benefit from our network of relationships, strategic insights and operational expertise,” Raghavan said.
Currently, Jyoti has a presence in 150 cities across 25 states, with brands such as Subway, Rebel Foods, Cinepolis, Chili’s and Holiday Inn.
Managing director Akhil Puri said the investment would also help it become a market leader in the supply chain management solutions business for the food services industry.
Convergent Finance
The PE firm was floated by Raghavan – a Stanford alumnus – after he quit as the India head of Fairfax’s private equity wing, Fairbridge Capital Pvt. Ltd, in May 2018.
In December that year, VCCircle had exclusively reported that Raghavan’s new investment firm was looking to raise as much as $500 million (Rs 3,515 crore then) under its maiden fund -- a near-record sum for someone breaking out on their own.
At the time, Raghavan said that Convergent Finance would invest in two opportunity sets across sectors. First, the fund would identify and invest with management teams and help them scale their businesses.
Second, Convergent will likely adopt the Fairfax India playbook and drive bolt-on acquisitions for many investment firms.
