Reliance Equity Advisors, the private equity arm of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Capital, has invested Rs 110 crore in Mumbai-based Max Flex and Imaging Systems Ltd, a manufacturer and distributor of printing-related consumables. The company had filed for an IPO in November last year and was looking to raise around Rs 120 crore.
Max Flex was looking to dilute around 29 per cent stake in its public offering, according to the company’s draft red herring prospectus. It was also looking to raise Rs 20 crore by selling 800K shares in a pre-IPO placement, which would have pegged the issue at around Rs 250 per share and the post-issue valuation at Rs 440-450 crore. Anand Rathi was the advisor on the current transaction.
According to its DRHP, Max Flex has a capex of around Rs 85 crore that involves investments in its subsidiaries for setting up a flex manufacturing plant, an ink manufacturing unit and a PVC rigid sheets & PP hollow sheets manufacturing plant.
Max Flex is engaged in trading of consumables required in the printing industry and offers over 9,300 variations such as solvent ink, photo paper, flex boards, printing inks, plates, etc. The company has a pan-India presence and markets its products across 19 states. Its sales and distribution network includes 18 owned branches, C&F agents at four locations and 17 warehouses.
Total income of Max Flex grew at a CAGR of 107.96 per cent to Rs 311 crore between FY06 and FY11 while its profit after tax went up at a CAGR of 278.54 per cent to Rs 17.86 crore during the same period.
This is the third investment of Reliance Equity Advisors, which is currently investing from a fund worth Rs 1,200 crore, raised from domestic investors. The PE firm made its debut by infusing Rs 100 crore in Sarla Holdings, which runs international schools under the brand Pathways World School. And most recently, it made another investment in Shankara Infrastructure Materials.
