Goldman Sachs and Mitsui Global Investment (Mitsui), a unit of Japan's Mitsui & Co. Ltd, among others are together putting in Rs 315 crore ($50.8 million) in Global Beverages & Foods Pvt Ltd (GBFPL) to pick an undisclosed stake.
GBFPL, a startup venture in the FMCG sector, is promoted by Arumugham Mahendran, a Godrej Group veteran, who started the new venture recently.
The startup would be engaged in juices, confectionaries and snacks. Mahendran, who will also invest, will be the chairman and managing director of the company.
J. Sagar Associates (JSA) advised Goldman Sachs in its investment while Mitsui and Mahendran were represented by Nishith Desai Associates and Trilegal, respectively.
This is the second major deal where Mahendran has roped in others to back him for a consumer sector business.
Last month, PE major India Value Fund Advisors backed Mahendran to acquire majority stake in ISS Hicare, one of the large pesticide services companies in the country. ISS Hicare operates through 52 branches in 27 cities. It serves over 1 lakh residential customers and 10,000 commercial customers with 1,500 employees and a network of franchise partners. It was owned by ISS Facility Services India Pvt Ltd, a part of Denmark’s ISS Global.
ISS Hicare was started in 2004 by Godrej Industries and Mahendran, to provide pest control services to residential customers in Mumbai, eventually expanding to become a pan-India player serving both residential and commercial customers. Formerly known as Godrej Hicare, it was acquired by Danish multinational ISS Global in 2009 for close to Rs 100 crore.
Other recent PE deals in the FMCG sector include WestBridge picking stake in Delhi-based DFM Foods and DSG Consumer Partners investing in Gujarat-based Saraf Foods.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)