Black River backs India's Future Consumer Enterprise

According to a regulatory filing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Black River's Food Fund 2 will invest through compulsorily convertible debentures, which must convert into equity shares within 18 months at a price of INR22.73 per share. A further INR670 million ($10 million) will be raised by issuing warrants to the promoter group.

FCEL also announced it would enter into a strategic alliance with Black River that will focus on developing upstream capabilities in food and related sectors. It said the primary purpose of the capital raising was to fund business expansion plans and strengthen its balance sheet.

The company operates a network of convenience stores and recently added the Nilgiri's chain to its portfolio. Concurrent with the Black River announcement, FCEL said it had entered into a master franchisee agreement with Future Retail under which the latter would operate the KB's Fair Price, KB's Conveniently Yours, Big Apple, and Aadhaar chains. FCEL will supply branded products to Future Retail as it continues "to pursue its strategic intent of 'farm to fork,' by focusing on sourcing, manufacturing, branding and distribution of products."

Food Fund 2 makes growth investments in protein production, value-added food processing, and supply chain management across emerging markets globally. The food funds have combined committed capital of approximately $1.2 billion.

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• Topics
• Expansion
• South Asia
• Consumer
• PIPEs
• India
• Growth capital
• PIPE
• Consumer