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Monday 3 September 2012

Blackstone invests Rs 243 crore in S H Kelkar & Company

One of the world’s leading investment and advisory firms, The Blackstone Group has picked up undisclosed stake in a Mumbai-based fragrances, flavors and aroma chemicals maker S H Kelkar & Company (SHK) by investing Rs 243 crore. The investment, according to SHK, will be used to consolidate its position in India as well as expand its presence in the global markets. The transaction was advised by Keynote Corporate Services Ltd.

A Reuters report citing
sources with direct knowledge of the matter, said that the US private equity (PE) giant has bought a 34.5% stake in SHK.

Commenting on the deal, Kedar Vaze, director, SHK, said, Blackstone's strategic inputs and capital will enable the company to achieve ambitious growth plans. "In addition to helping us scale operations, this deal will provide us access to Blackstone’s international network and global best practices," said Vaze.

A research and development (R&D) focused company, SHK's clients include leading fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in India and abroad. The company supplies a wide variety of specialty fragrance and flavour ingredients to 2,000 customer base globally.

With three manufacturing units in India (two fragrance units in Maharashtra, and one bulk aroma chemicals unit in Vapi, Gujarat) and a manufacturing unit in Netherlands, SHK recently opened offices in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, for growing sales to South East Asia in addition to sales offices across India. SHK's four R&D/creative centres are located in Mumbai, Bangalore, Netherlands and Indonesia.

Akhil Gupta, senior managing director and chairman, Blackstone India said SHK has unique intellectual property and a strong market presence for over eight decades. "In the domestic fragrance market, SHK is the leader with a large customer base and is the only Indian player of scale. We foresee a huge growth opportunity for SHK both in domestic and other emerging markets, driven by the growth in personal consumption in India, Africa and South-east Asia,” said Gupta.


Last year in March 2011, another PE firm Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) had invested Rs 85 crore in Privi Organics, one of India’s leading aroma chemical manufacturer and exporter. The funding was used to part finance the growth plans of the company’s business through expansion of manufacturing facilities at Mahad, Maharashtra and also support key backward integration projects.

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