Ramky Enviro Engineers Ltd, in which the global investment firm KKR acquired a 60 per cent stake for $530 million, plans to invest about ₹2,500 crore on expansion and new projects.
M Goutham Reddy, Managing Director and CEO of Ramky Enviro, said: “The investment will be spread over the next two to three years and include projects in some select markets overseas as well. With a strong investor like KKR backing the company, we would be able to take up next phase of growth.”
“The funding requirement would be met through part of the funds we raised, and through internal accruals and debt,” he said.
Speaking after the announcement of the KKR investment made into the company on Monday, Reddy said: “Of the ₹1,900 crore turnover the company logged last fiscal, about 30 per cent, $100 million, comes from overseas projects. We expect this to go up by about 5-6 per cent in the near term.”
“We operate out of five countries in the Middle East including Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Tanzania and Kenya in Africa, Singapore and other countries in South East Asia, and are open to expansion into new countries,” he said.
While KKR holds 60 per cent post investment, the rest will be with Ayodhya Rami Reddy, the company promoter.
To increase headcount
Ramky Enviro employs about 10,000 both directly and indirectly across its projects and expects this number to go up to 15,000-18,000 over the next three years as the business expands.
Providing an insight into the potential, Reddy said about 200 tonnes of waste is generated in urban areas per day and barely 15 per cent is segregated and handled. The opportunity to expand and offer services in this space and tackling industrial, hazardous and medical waste is huge.
The government is focussed on major initiatives such as the Swachh Bharat, Smart Cities, Amrut project and waste to energy projects.
KKR view
Sanjay Nayar, Member and CEO of KKR India, said, “This is a strategic investment made in a company which has immense potential to grow. We have invested for the long term. The focus is on growing its business. We are not in a hurry. The idea is to build scale, then we can think IPO.”
“Several years ago we invested in Dalmia Cement and have made several strategic investments and continue to look forward to new opportunities,” he said.
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