Warburg Pincus-backed Parksons Packaging, India’s largest independent folding carton manufacturer, has acquired a 100% stake in Manohar Packaging, a company that produces paper board packaging for alcoholic beverages and confectionery. Both companies are headquartered in Mumbai.
Siddharth Kejriwal, managing director, Parksons Packaging, said, “Adding Manohar’s depth of services and domain expertise strengthens our offerings in the food and beverage segment and increases our footprint in North and West India.” Parksons Packaging is active in almost every FMCG monocarton segment while Manohar is a specialist in premium alcobev packaging.
The acquisition is intended to strengthen Parksons’ presence in the food and beverage segment in North and West India. Manohar Packaging will now be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parksons. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, but it is thought to be worth between Rs 2 bn (US$ 26.6 m) and Rs 2.5 bn (US$ 33.3m).
Parksons has a diversified product portfolio and serves more than 300 customers across the consumer, food, pharmaceutical and other end-markets. The company has six manufacturing facilities located in the Indian cities of Daman, Chakan, Pantnagar, Guwahati and Sricity. By acquiring Manohar Packaging, Parksons will have a presence in Goa and Punjab and a total of eight factories.
Kejriwal added, “Scalability is another factor that we look for when evaluating inorganic growth, and the new plant in Punjab can easily be scaled to four times its current capacity. The plant is located in a region with many of the biggest food and pharma players as well as alcobev. The real benefit is to the premium alcobev brand owners that Manohar brings us closer to us, who will now be able to leverage our network of eight plants in every part of the country.”
Founded in 1994, Manohar Packaging is one of India’s top producers of carton packaging and an industry leader in the alcoholic beverages segment. Through two manufacturing facilities across India, Manohar Packaging can convert more than 100 million sheets annually.
Aditya Patwardhan, CEO, Manohar Packaging said, “Based on Parksons’ values, core capabilities, excellent brand reputation, and backing by Warburg Pincus, it’s a natural fit that reinforces our long-term vision and relationships with customers.” As a subsidiary of Parksons, Patwardhan will continue as director of Manohar Packaging. Siddharth and Chaitanya Kejriwal from the Parksons family and the Warburg representative will be inducted into Manohar’s board.
In April this year, American private equity firm Warburg Pincus acquired a majority stake in Parksons Packaging. Ramesh Kejriwal, chairman at Parksons, said, “Warburg Pincus is excited with this acquisition and continues to put strength behind the Parksons Packaging management to grow and build the business. Warburg believes the industry will consolidate faster. The opportunity for growth in paper-based packaging is going to accelerate with the concerns around sustainability.”