Making its second investment in the Godrej Group, Singapore-government owned sovereign fund Temasek has entered into an agreement to acquire a 19.99 per cent stake in Godrej Agrovet Limited (GAVL), a subsidiary of Godrej Industries Limited (GIL), for Rs 572 crore.
In January this year, Temasek had acquired 4.9 per cent stake in Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) for Rs 685 crore through its wholly owned subsidiary, Baytree. Baytree had bought 16.7 million shares in GCPL at Rs 410 a share.
On Monday, shares of Godrej Industries went down 0.60 per cent to close at Rs 308.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The investment will be a combination of primary and secondary investment, with the primary investment intended to support GAVL’s future expansion plans, said a company statement.
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The Rs 2,460-crore Godrej Agrovet Limited is a leading manufacturer of agriculture and poultry-based products, with well-known brands such as Real Good Chicken and Yummiez. Godrej Agrovet has 45 manufacturing facilities, a network of over 10,000 rural distributors and over 2,000 employees across the country.
The poultry division has joined hands with Tyson Foods, a US-based leading meat processor and marketer.
Nadir Godrej, chairman of GAVL, said: “We welcome Temasek as a partner. We believe that their global credentials, knowledge of agribusiness and excellent track record will be beneficial to GAVL. Indian agriculture is at an inflection point and with GAVL’s focus on R&D and operational excellence, we believe that the future looks very bright for the business.”
In the past five years, Indian agriculture sector saw 35 private equity/venture capital deals, worth $356 million.
Earlier, Rohit Sipahimalani, head of Temasek India, had said that the Indian consumption story remained intact and the Singapore firm is keen on the space. Temasek's major portfolio companies in India include Bharti Airtel, Tata Sky, NSE, GMR Energy and Tata Teleservices.
