Samena picks up stake in Mahindra scooters business

Kinetic acquired a 20% holding - which was subsequently diluted - in November 2008 when Kinetic Motor Company sold its scooter business to Mahindra Two Wheelers in a cash plus equity deal. Kinetic's engineering and motor divisions subsequently merged in 2012.

The Pune-based group will receive net proceeds of approximately INR1.1 billion ($17.7 million) from this latest transaction.

Kinetic, which is owned by the Firodia family, launched India's first moped, the Kinetic Lunar, as well as the country's first advanced gearless scooter, the Kinetic Honda. However, in recent years it has diversified into automotive systems and the Two Wheelers exit will generate capital that can be invested in this business.

Anoop Mathur, president of Two Wheelers, noted that the acquisition of Kinetic's scooter assets accelerated his company's entry into the scooter space. Led by motorcycle brand Centuro and scooter brands such as Duro-DZ and Flyte, Two Wheelers sold 19,715 units in December 2013, up 252% year-on-year.

"We are delighted to be partnering with Mahindra & Mahindra to help build Mahindra Two Wheelers into a leading global player," said Ramesh Venkataraman, senior partner at Samena Capital, in a statement. "The early success of Centuro has demonstrated what the organization is capable of and we look forward to an exciting and fruitful relationship in the years to come."

Established in 2008, Samena Capital is an alliance between a diverse group of business families and entrepreneurs and a team of investment professionals based in London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mumbai.

The firm counts Sheikh Nawaf Nasser Bin Khalid Al Thani, chairman and CEO of Qatar's NBK Holding of Qatar, V-Nee Yeh, founder of Value Partners and chairman of Samena Capital, and Atul Punj of India's Punj Lloyd among its founder investors.

In an interesting twist on the operating partner model, these LPs own a stake in the GP and are expected to identify potential deals, or use their experience and networks to support the investment professionals.

Samena manages total capital commitments of approximately $700 million across private equity, credit and hedge fund seeding. The group's first special situations fund closed in May 2009 with total commitments of $180.5 million. It launched a second fund in 2011, seeking up to $700 million.

According to Samena's 2012 annual report, Fund II had received total commitments of $352.3 million and was targeting a final close in summer 2013.

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Industrials
• South Asia
• Growth capital
• Samena Capital
• India
• automobiles
• manufacturing