National Collateral Management Services Ltd (NCMSL), a leading private agri-warehousing company, is raising additional equity of Rs 101.75 crore from IABF, IFC and four of its existing shareholders.
The India Agri-Business Fund (IABF), floated by Rabobank and the International Finance Corporation (member of the World Bank Group), will be investing Rs 34.50 crore and Rs 27.50 crore respectively. IFFCO will be the largest shareholder participant, with an investment of Rs 23.75 crore.
Three other existing shareholders of NCMSL – Karur Vysya Bank Ltd (KVB), Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd (HAFED) and National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) – will also participate in the additional equity plan to the extent of Rs 9.15 crore, Rs 4.85 crore and Rs 2 crore respectively.
SBI Capital Markets Ltd was the financial advisor of NCMSL for the equity placement.
Sanjay Kaul, MD & CEO of National Collateral Management Services Ltd, said, “NCMSL offers modern, scientific and IT-enabled storage and preservation services with focus on agri commodities. In the last six years, the company has emerged as a leading player in providing warehousing, collateral management, testing & certification, and weather intelligence services. We plan to deploy these funds over the next two years to create our own network of warehouses in more than 40 locations across the country.”
“The Fund takes pride in committing an investment in agri-warehousing, which is critically deficient in India. The knowledge and input from Rabobank and the fund management team will help in further growth of NCMSL’s agri-warehousing and collateral management activities. The project will help in deepening the commodities market in India while also enabling liquidity of warehouse receipts and strengthening of price risk management capabilities of various stakeholders across the value chain, right from farmers to processors,” said Rajesh Srivastava, CMD of Rabo Equity.
Food & agri business has seen a lot of action from PE funds. Rabo Equity Advisors, the PE arm of the Dutch bank Rabo, has raised a $120 million India Agri Business Fund and has closed six deals since its launch in 2008. Aavishkaar Venture Management has earlier invested in food and agri-related companies such as Zameen Organic, a marketing company for fair trade, organic and pesticide-free cotton, and Shree Kamdhenu Electronics Pvt Ltd, a company developing technology for the dairy industry.