ePlanet picks up stake in Ramcides
These are difficult times for corporate fund raising, be it debt or equity, private or public. Belying this, a Chennai-based agro solutions company-Sree Ramcides has quietly concluded a fund raising exercise with ePlanet Ventures.
"We have received growth capital from ePlanet Ventures for a minority stake," R Padmanaban, MD of Sree Ramcides Chemicals, told The Times of India. The funds raised from this exercise would be used to expansion of the company spread across Pudukottai, Chennai and Jammu. The company makes products in the crop protection and crop health segment space.
ePlanet would be accorded one board representation in Ramcides. Veda Corporate Advisors advised the company in the transaction.
"The company has been doing well in the past three years and there exists a huge opportunity in the agro space, which excited us to invest in Ramcides," Chandrasekar Kandaswamy, MD of ePlanet Ventures, said. He however did not divulge the details of the transaction.
Ramcides closed the fiscal ended March 2008 with revenues of Rs 101 crore and the company hopes to end this year with a topline of Rs 150 to Rs 160 crore. "Our aim is to grow to a Rs 350 crore company by March 2012 with a clear focus on agro products. We do have other products like detergents and mosquito repellents. That will be a small portion of our business." The company has applied for 8 patents across various plant nutrient and plant protection products, and has 8,000 dealers spread across 20 states.