Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors (Mo Alts) on Wednesday said it has invested Rs 330 crore ($39.3 million) for a minority stake in Lal Sweets, known for Indian sweets such as ‘Mysore pak’ and ‘kaju katli’.
Started in 2010, the Bangalore-based Lal Sweets has its products available across 4,000 modern trade outlets, 7,000 general trade outlets, quick-commerce platforms, e-commerce platforms, and its website. It claims to have been bootstrapped and profitable since its inception.
“India’s packaged sweets space is witnessing a rapid double-digit growth, driven by an increased focus on convenience and hygiene, an uptick in gifting use-cases, a shift from unbranded to branded plays, and pull of quality products at attractive pricing,” Vijay Dhanuka, Managing Director and Head of Consumer Sector at Mo Alts, said.
“Despite the presence of several large incumbents in this space, Prateek (founder) has demonstrated stellar product innovation and execution to capture leading positions in the company’s core products across modern trade and quick-commerce channels,” Dhanuka added.
A unit of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, MO Alts, manages both private equity and real estate funds and cumulatively manages an AUM of $2 billion between the two asset classes.
The private equity vertical focuses on providing growth capital to mid-market companies across its preferred sectors of consumer, financial services, life sciences and niche manufacturing, typically in the range of Rs 2,000–5,000 million. The private equity vertical has, in the last 18 years, made over 44 investments and has completely exited 17 investments and partially exited 2.
Some of its recent investments include SK Finance Ltd, an Indian NBFC engaged in used and new vehicle financing and secured business loans, engineering firm VVDN Technologies, and hygiene products maker Pan Healthcare.
