The Hindu Business Line : SIDBI Venture picks up stake in Indo Shell Mould

SIDBI Venture Capital, the venture capital arm of Small Industries Development Bank of India, has invested Rs 15.72 crore in the equity capital of the Coimbatore-based Indo Shell Mould Ltd.

The Rs 158-crore company manufactures ferrous and non-ferrous shell moulded casting components for two-wheeler automobile industry, hydraulic industry and home appliances.

The company produces a wide range of auto components — its Web site lists 40 items.

Neither SIDBI Venture Capital nor Indo Shell Mould was willing to disclose the stake picked up by former, fearing that such disclosure would reveal the valuations of the company.

Mr Balaji Jagadeesan, Deputy Managing Director, Indo Shell Mould, told Business Line today that the company's exports were increasing. It wanted funds for expansion and SIDBI Venture Capital chipped in.

Mr Jagadeesan said Indo Shell Mould expected a 30 per cent increase in turnover for the current year.

Mr Ajay Kapur, Chief Executive Officer, SIDBI Venture Capital, said there was practically no venture fund in the country "in the under Rs 20-crore" category.

The investment in Indo Shell Mould has been made out of SIDBI Venture Capital's SME Growth Fund, a fund with a corpus of Rs 500 crore contributed by eight banks. The fund is one of the three under the venture capital company, the other two being National Venture Fund for Software and IT industry and SIDBI's Venture Fund.

Mr Kapur said the SME Growth Fund has so far invested in nine companies (involving commitment of Rs 120 crore), Indo Shell Mould being the latest one. Some of the other investments are Bravo Healthcare Ltd of Mumbai, a pharma company, and Carzonrent Pvt Ltd, a car rental company and a licensee of Hertz for India.

The National Venture Fund for Software and IT industry has so far invested Rs 100 crore in 30 IT companies.

Mr Kapur said the fund had completely or partially exited 11 of them and had got revenues 1.8 times the investment.