Morgan Stanley PE Asia Invests Rs 152 Crore In Manna Foods

A fund managed by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia has invested Rs 152 crore in South Indian Health Food makers Manna Foods brand.

Manna Foods’ the flagship product of Manna Health Mix is a ready to cook improvisation of ‘sathumaavu’, a traditional homemade multi-grain mixture of cereals, millets and pulses that is cooked in hot milk. Apart from its flagship product, Manna Foods has a strong suite of health food products including ready to cook millet based infant food, millet grains, soya nuggets, dried fruits, purees and pastes.

"Led by Manna Health Mix, Manna Foods has created a unique health food platform with an array of natural, preservative-free and ethnic food products range. At a time when people are quitting synthetic preparations and switching over to organic and traditional food, Manna Foods is excited about the partnership with Morgan Stanley to write a true success story in Health Foods space in India," shared I S A K Nazar, Company's Promoter.

“We are excited to back a fast growing brand such as Manna which has consistently delivered on its customer promise of natural, healthy and high quality products. At a time when India’s eating habits and lifestyles are creating health challenges, we believe that Manna’s natural foods are well positioned to offer appealing choices to consumers. Additionally, foods based on home-grown grains such as millets are regaining popularity, offering ‘superfood’-type nutritional content at an affordable cost. We look forward to driving Manna's next phase of growth," added Arjun Saigal, co-head of Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia in India.

The proceeds will be used to fund company’s expansion in south India as well as provide part exit to existing investors. The company had earlier raised Rs 30 crore from early growth investors led by Fulcrum in 2015.

Ethan Khatri, Partner at Fulcrum said “Having partnered with Manna in 2015, Fulcrum has been very happy working with the Manna team under the able leadership of Nazar. We have always felt that Manna has a strong brand and the same has reflected in the strong sales growth posted by the company over the last two years. Joining hands with Morgan Stanley will further help strengthen Company’s positioning in the FMCG space”.