Kitara Capital, a PE firm headquartered in Muscat with presence in India and Dubai, has invested $11 million in Mumbai-based Oil Field Instrumentation Ltd (OFIL), a provider of mud logging services to oil exploration companies, a source close to the development said.
Following the investment, Kitara Capital will take 35-36% stake in the company, the source said.
Kuwait-based AREF Energy Holding, a subsidiary of AREF Investment Group, a long-term investor in Kitara and a leading investment institution in the region, indirectly owns 12.75% in OFIL through this deal.
When contacted, an OFIL senior official, who did not wish to be identified, confirmed the investment. An e mail sent to AJ D’sa, CEO of OFIL and Kitara MD Amitab Chakraborty remained unanswered.
OFIL, under the Neterwala Group of companies, provides mud logging services to corporate establishments that are engaged in oil well drilling, exploration and development including deep waters and Coal Bed Methane (CBM). The company manufactures its own mud logging units (MLUs) and also provides rig instrumentation and services for globally accessible online real time drilling data.
OFIL apparently holds 45% market share in India. The company has an installed capacity of 40 MLUs and has monitored more than 2500 wells in offshore and onshore locations. The company has an in-house software development team for development and upgrading of its Mud Logging software.
It currently operates in India, Syria, Bangladesh, Kurdistan, Kazakhstan and Oman.
Kitara Capital, which commenced operation a year ago, and a part of Ajit Khimji Group of Oman, has invested $18 million in MyTVS, a multi-brand car service network and a subsidiary of Chennai-based $4-billion TVS Group, also. Kitara owns over 25% stake in My TVS, which was first reported in VCCircle.