INDIA — Ashika Capital Limited, a future focused investment banking firm, facilitated a one-of-a-kind deal for Independence Brewing Company (IBC), one of the largest & oldest microbreweries in India, with parent company Indus Brew LLC located in the US. Miadiamante Food & Beverage Private Limited, a company promoted by Krishen Lal Khanna & Anirudh Khanna of the Khanna family, which has promoted several successful entities in the past, has acquired a majority stake in the company via purchase from Indus Brew LLC. This is one of the few transactions that has been successfully executed in the F&B space in India since the lockdown was announced.
Co-founded by Shailendra Bist, majority of the stake in IBC was previously owned by Indus Brew LLC, including some pertinent & famous names in the global brewing industry & business ecosystem – Greg Koch (Co-founder, Stone Brewing Company)and Avanish Vellanki (Co-founder & CEO, Rain Therapeutics). IBC is widely present across Western India through its outlets and beer distribution business. Its revenues were ticking over 2 million USDuntil March 2020.
Commenting on this deal, Mihir Mehta, Senior Vice President, Ashika Capital Limitedsaid “As we know, the ongoing pandemic has affected our economy drastically, with F&B sector being one of the worse affected sectors. This project came as a challenge to us during these trying times and we are glad to have successfully closed the deal with all the parties involved. It was a tough task to structure this transaction because majority stake was owned by an American entity and multiple compliances & warranties had to be factored in.”
Further, Chirag Jain, CEO, Ashika Capital Limitedsaid“At Ashika Capital, we work with investors across the world and provide them access to not only investment opportunities in India but also hand hold them to exit those opportunities. This deal is a live example where we provided a smooth exit to a group of USA domiciled investors at the right time. It also marks our growing leadership in helping consumer businesses raise capital, even during the uncertain times we are in”.
While Miadiamante has purchased a majority stake in the company, the founder will continue to own a minority stake in the company and invest efforts in growing the business further. What was previously a US based LLC has now been converted into an Indian family owned company, which will run the business hereof.
Avanish Vellanki, Co-founder of IBC, and currently Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Rain Therapeutics (Newark, California, USA) said, “The Ashika team worked tirelessly to navigate the challenging global times, and through the successful close of the IBC transaction for which we are grateful.”
In the past, Ashika Capital has worked with numerous brands in the consumer space in India and beyond, ranging from the sale of Devigarh Palace by Xander Group and facilitating funding for The Bohri Kitchen and Sweetish House Mafia to the sale of Pernia’s Pop Up Shop. Last year, Ashika assisted luxury fashion label House of Masaba raise its first round of funding led by Binny Bansal.