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The WestBridge Group is close to investing Rs 800 crore
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Three sources with knowledge of the matter stated that a deal to buy a minority position in the dairy products company Milky Mist, which is based in Tamil Nadu and is backed by the India-focused investment vehicle WestBridge Capital, is nearing completion. On condition of anonymity, these persons stated that the investment will likely total around Rs 800 crore and value Milky Mist Dairy Food at roughly Rs 7,000 crore.
"The discussions, which lasted over a year, are now complete, and WestBridge is nearing completion of all remaining formalities. It has the deal's exclusivity, and the financing will become formal in a few more weeks, according to one of the persons. In order to raise money, Milky Mist has previously had negotiations with private equity and venture capital firms. These discussions, however, were unsuccessful.
Stage-one bet for WestBridge- Milky Mist CEO K. Rathnam stated, "We are exploring fundraising and are in talks with several companies, but we have not yet finalised any particular suitor." Sandeep Singhal, managing director of WestBridge Capital, had not replied to an email as of the time of publishing on Sunday.
If the purchase is approved, growth-stage investment firm WestBridge, which has supported companies like Dr. Lal Pathlabs, Five Star Finance, and Fogg deodorant maker Vini Cosmetics, will be making a bet. The $8 billion asset management company recently bought an additional 1.5% of Indigo Airlines, bringing its stake in the airline to more than 3.3%. The corporation also returned to private tech investing during the past few years and became one of the most active players there. The edtech companies PhysicsWallah, Lead School, and Vedantu, as well as the SaaS company LeadSquared, are a few of the businesses that WestBridge has invested in. Rapido, a mobility startup, is another.
The Business of Milky Mist- More than three decades ago, T. Sathish Kumar founded Milky Mist, a significant institutional player that offers services to hotels, restaurants, and caterers. Milky Mist is now headquartered close to Erode, Tamil Nadu. The business offers cottage cheese, yoghurt, butter, and cheese in addition to other products. Additionally, it purchases milk from 60,000 dairy producers each day, totaling about 600,000 litres.
Dairy firms have been forced to increase the price at which milk is acquired in order to help farmers due to rising transportation and calf feed costs during the preceding two years. In addition to hurting players' cost structures, this was also accompanied by rising labour and packaging prices, which sparked worries across the board for the entire sector.
For the year ended March 31, 2023, Milky Mist recorded sales of nearly Rs 1,450 crore, an increase of more than 42% from the previous year. The company reported revenues of Rs 1,012 crore and a net profit of Rs 32 crore for FY22 in its filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). It still hasn't given the RoC the results from FY23. Industry analysts estimate that Milky Mist's debt protection risk profile will remain favourable over the medium term due to its operating profitability of about 15% during the last three fiscal years.
"The discussions, which lasted over a year, are now complete, and WestBridge is nearing completion of all remaining formalities. It has the deal's exclusivity, and the financing will become formal in a few more weeks, according to one of the persons. In order to raise money, Milky Mist has previously had negotiations with private equity and venture capital firms. These discussions, however, were unsuccessful.
Stage-one bet for WestBridge- Milky Mist CEO K. Rathnam stated, "We are exploring fundraising and are in talks with several companies, but we have not yet finalised any particular suitor." Sandeep Singhal, managing director of WestBridge Capital, had not replied to an email as of the time of publishing on Sunday.
If the purchase is approved, growth-stage investment firm WestBridge, which has supported companies like Dr. Lal Pathlabs, Five Star Finance, and Fogg deodorant maker Vini Cosmetics, will be making a bet. The $8 billion asset management company recently bought an additional 1.5% of Indigo Airlines, bringing its stake in the airline to more than 3.3%. The corporation also returned to private tech investing during the past few years and became one of the most active players there. The edtech companies PhysicsWallah, Lead School, and Vedantu, as well as the SaaS company LeadSquared, are a few of the businesses that WestBridge has invested in. Rapido, a mobility startup, is another.
The Business of Milky Mist- More than three decades ago, T. Sathish Kumar founded Milky Mist, a significant institutional player that offers services to hotels, restaurants, and caterers. Milky Mist is now headquartered close to Erode, Tamil Nadu. The business offers cottage cheese, yoghurt, butter, and cheese in addition to other products. Additionally, it purchases milk from 60,000 dairy producers each day, totaling about 600,000 litres.
Dairy firms have been forced to increase the price at which milk is acquired in order to help farmers due to rising transportation and calf feed costs during the preceding two years. In addition to hurting players' cost structures, this was also accompanied by rising labour and packaging prices, which sparked worries across the board for the entire sector.
For the year ended March 31, 2023, Milky Mist recorded sales of nearly Rs 1,450 crore, an increase of more than 42% from the previous year. The company reported revenues of Rs 1,012 crore and a net profit of Rs 32 crore for FY22 in its filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). It still hasn't given the RoC the results from FY23. Industry analysts estimate that Milky Mist's debt protection risk profile will remain favourable over the medium term due to its operating profitability of about 15% during the last three fiscal years.