Mid-market private equity firm Amicus Capital has led a $27.5 million (Rs 225 crore) equity round of funding in Belagavi, Karnataka-based diversified contract manufacturer Aequs Pvt Ltd. The company's existing investors, too, have participated in this round. The PE fund had emerged as the frontrunner to invest in the company. Aequs is a manufacturing partner to several global and local original equipment manufacturers across the aerospace, toys, and consumer goods verticals. It will primarily use the capital to expand its manufacturing capabilities to serve its OEMs clients more efficiently across the three verticals.

“The equity investment by Amicus Capital marks the first external funding into Aequs and sets us on a new trajectory to further expand operations in the three current verticals and continue to provide world-class manufacturing solutions to our global customers," said Aravind Melligeri, chairman and CEO, in a statement. Aequs specializes in precision machining, forging, sheet metal fabrication, aero-structure assemblies, and special processing for aerospace and allied industries. It operates an aerospace special economic zone at Belagavi to serve global clients.

The company operates manufacturing facilities across India, France, and the United States of America, and employs a workforce of over 4,000. The company has fully integrated manufacturing operations across three clusters—Belagavi Aerospace Cluster, Koppal Toys Cluster, and Hubballi Durable Goods Cluster, all located in North Karnataka.

“With its marquee customer base, state-of-the-art infrastructure and vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities, Aequs is uniquely positioned to play a significant role in India’s emergence as a global manufacturing powerhouse," said Mahesh Parasuraman, co-founder and partner at Amicus Capital. The PE fund says it has assets under management of $165 million (Rs 1,275 crore) across two funds. Amicus has invested in a dozen companies from its debut fund and one company from its second fund. Aequs is likely to be their first bet from the new vehicle, which is targeting a corpus of $200 million.

The Bengaluru-based PE firm is close to securing a commitment of $30 million (around Rs 248 crore) from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the lending arm of the European Union. Parasuraman, former managing director at US-based private equity firm Carlyle, and Sunil Vasudevan, a former partner at India-based PE True North, launched Amicus Capital in 2015. They raised their first fund over the subsequent three years. Amicus raised around $90 million for its first fund. The PE firm has invested in companies such as RenewBuy, Capital Small Finance Bank, and Berar Finance from the first fund.