Quadria-backed Capricorn files for India IPO

According to a prospectus, the offer comprises an undisclosed number of freshly issued shares and up to 7.6 million existing shares, including 4.8 million shares held by Quadria. The GP has 10 million shares in total, or a 34% stake. Pricing for the shares has not been announced.

The company hopes to raise INR1.7 billion ($26.6 million) through the primary issue. Of this, about INR1 billion will be used to pay down debt and INR410 million has earmarked for investment in Capricorn subsidiary Gonglu Agro.

Founded in 1998, Capricorn supplies fruit-based ingredients such as pulps and concentrates to more than 300 customers including beverage makers, processed food producers, and ice cream and confectionery companies. It claims to be the second-largest supplier of mango pulps and concentrates in India and the country’s biggest exporter of such products, with a global market share of 5%. It is also India’s largest supplier of tomato paste and purees.

Capricorn has been a supplier to Coca-Cola India for the past 12 years and to domestic Pepsico bottler Varun Beverages for 10 years. For the year ended March 2017, about 79% of the company's domestic revenue and 62% of its international revenue came from customers with whom it has an uninterrupted relationship of more than three years.

Total revenue for 2017 came to INR4.4 billion, up from INR4 billion the year before. Over the same period, net profit grew from INR185 million to INR222 million.

Quadria invested $13.8 million in Capricorn in 2013 through the India Build-Out Fund, which it took over through the acquisition of Milestone Religare earlier that year.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• IPO
• Consumer
• Industrials
• India
• Quadria Capital
• Exit
• manufacturing