Morgan Stanley’s India Infrastructure Fund has acquired a stake in pallet pooling firm LEAP India for Rs 180 crore ($25 million).
This is the single-largest round raised by LEAP, founder Sunu Mathew said in a statement.
“With Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure as a partner, LEAP aims to achieve a total asset pool of six million and provide technologically advanced products to the market,” he added.
Founded in 2013, LEAP India provides returnable and customised packaging solutions to a variety of industries. It offers wooden pallets and foldable large containers, which are used for storing and moving products across the supply chain.
LEAP India primarily caters to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), consumer durables, beverages, ecommerce, retail, auto and auto-component manufacturing sectors, the company said.
IFC, IndiaNivesh, Mayfield Capital and Sixth Sense Ventures are the other investors in LEAP India.
LEAP India caters to 600-plus customers and over 7,000 touchpoints from a pan-India network of 18 warehouses.
“The firm has been able to navigate COVID-19 successfully and has emerged stronger with an increased market share. India is hugely under-penetrated in terms of palletisation”, said Shyamsundar Gurumoorthy, managing director and co-head of Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure.
Morgan Stanley’s infrastructure investments in India include Unison Enviro Pvt. Ltd, Continuum Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Indus Concessions India Pvt. Ltd and Asian Genco Pvt. Ltd.
In May 2019, Morgan Stanley committed Rs 100 crore to HealthMaP Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd, the diagnostic imaging unit of Manipal Health Enterprise Pvt. Ltd.
