The Hindu Business Line : SIDBI Venture Capital invests Rs 30 cr in Centaur Group

Mumbai, May 22 SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd (SVCL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of SIDBI, has invested Rs 30 crore in the Mumbai-based Centaur Group. The group consists of Centaur Chemicals and Centaur Pharmaceuticals, which would be merged soon.

Speaking at the press conference to announce the investment, Mr Ajay Kapur, Chief Executive Officer, SVCL, said, “The investment will result in us owning a significant minority stake in the company.” The Centaur Group has a manufacturing plant in Goa and Ambernath. It has recently set up a plant in Hinjewadi, Pune as a 100 export-oriented unit to cater to the regulated markets. The group has also forayed into contract research and clinical trials for several overseas pharma majors.

It is planning to invest the amount in capital expansion over the next two years. “We will invest another Rs 15-20 crore, which will come out of our internal accruals and borrowings,” Managing Director Mr S. D. Sawant said. The group may also look at an initial public offering in the next two-three years, he added.

The investment in Centaur Group has been made out of SVCL’s SME Growth Fund having a corpus of Rs 500 crore. Apart from the main sponsor, SIDBI, other sponsors for the fund include public sector banks such as State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Corporation Bank, among others. The fund has committed to 23 investments so far and the entire corpus would be deployed this year, Mr Kapur said.

“About three-fourth of the fund has been committed,” said Mr Kapur. The fund has invested in a range of sectors such as information technology, textiles and apparels, healthcare, auto components, retailing, logistics and distribution, industrial adhesives, services, etc. SVCL’s first fund of Rs 100 crore has been fully deployed and 78 per cent of the corpus has been returned to the sponsors, said Mr Vipul Mankad, President, SVCL.

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