Piramal group’s alternate asset arm Piramal Alternatives has tapped the fragrance and flavour (F&F) sector making an investment of Rs 225 crore (nearly $27 million) in Harmony Organics Pvt Ltd, a Pune-based specialty chemicals company.
“The funds raised from Piramal Alternatives are in the form of convertible securities,” Harmony Organics said in a statement. ICBC Mumbai was the exclusive financial adviser for this deal.
Early this year, VCCircle reported about the fund's one of the early transactions in which it led a fresh round of investment in a Hyderabad-based precision engineering company.
Piramal Alternatives, which recently spoke about its $1.5 billion fundraising plan, made the latest investment from its performing credit fund, its 12th investment from the fund.
The Ajay Piramal-led group has raised $4 billion across four credit funds so far, including India Resurgence Fund – in partnership with Bain Capital, and the where Canadian investor Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec is (CDPQ) an anchor investor.
“Through Piramal Alternatives, we aim to aid mid-market companies by providing flexible, bespoke and value accretive capital,” said Kalpesh Kikani, CEO, Piramal Alternatives.
Piramal Alternatives aims to be a significant provider of customized solutions across the entire capital stack to high-quality corporates that are looking to maximize their growth.
Harmony Organics was established in 1976 and presently claims to be the largest manufacturer of Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol (PEA) in India and second largest in the world with its flagship products as PEA and Cinnamic Aldehyde used for aroma chemicals globally. It has an installed production capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year at its factory located in Pune.
The company has developed derivatives of PEA, Cinnamic Aldehyde, and other value-added specialty chemicals to cater to the requirements of the F&F industry which is globally valued at $29 billion in 2021 with a projection to reach $37.3 billion by 2026.
“The company is planning to make strategic investments to build & expand state-of-the-art facilities at the existing & new locations in the next couple of quarters The current funding is against issuance of convertibles for the purpose to expand capacities and explore inorganic opportunities,” said Sandeep Mehta, Managing Director & CEO - Harmony Organics.
He added that this expansion will result in Harmony becoming one of the leading aroma chemical players in the country. “Overall, the plan is to take the company public in the next couple of years based on the strong growth trajectory and ability to expand its product portfolio.”