US private equity major Carlyle has entered advanced stage negotiations to acquire a majority stake in top geosynthetic manufacturing and geotechnical engineering firm Strata Geosystems ( India) Pvt Ltd and its affiliates, multiple industry sources in the know told Moneycontrol.
An earlier deal between Strata Geosystems and construction materials marketplace Infra.Market struck in June 2023 did not materialize and was called off later, these sources added.
To be sure, geosynthetics are new-age construction products used to strengthen or stabilise a structure or terrain in a sustainable manner.
" Carlyle has held talks to acquire a controlling stake between 60 per cent to 70 per cent in Strata Geosystems which will be on offer from part stake sales by US-based Glen Raven Technical Fabrics LLC, a global manufacturer in technical and performance textiles and a group of other Indian shareholders. Then, Strata will in turn be used to acquire the US affiliate. So, it is a deal across two legs with a size of around $110 mn to $120 mn" one of the persons above told Moneycontrol.
" This is intended to be a derivative play by Carlyle on the growing infrastructure theme in the country as Strata cuts across various sub-segments. The target firm is a leader in India and also exports to US and Europe. The passive Indian shareholders will dilute part stake while the operating Indian shareholders will continue post the transaction," a second person elaborated.
Narendra Dalmia is the Chief Executive Officer of Strata Geosystems India while Gautam Dalmia is the Chief Development Officer as per the firm's website.
Strata, an early entrant in the technical textile sector in India, has scaled to become one of the largest geosynthetic manufacturing companies that specialise in soil reinforcement technology. The company provides sustainable materials across sectors such as highways, landfills, mines, railways, water infrastructure, ports, container yards and more.
According to a third person in the know," Strata Geosystems is a high-growth asset in a high-growth sector in an under-penetrated market like India. Investment bank Avendus Capital is acting as the sell -side advisor."
All the three persons above spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity.
In response to an email query from Moneycontrol, Carlyle which is led by Amit Jain in India and Avendus Capital declined to comment.
Queries sent to Glen Raven Technical Fabrics LLC , Strata Geosystems and Infra.Market remained unanswered at the time of publishing. This article will be updated as soon as we hear from the parties.
According to its website, Strata Geosystems has 500 plus global clients, 1500 plus workforce, 10,000 plus structures engineered for five habitable continents and 65 million plus geogrid manufactured and sold worldwide.
On September 6, Moneycontrol was the first to report that Carlyle-promoted Hexaware Technologies had filed draft papers with Sebi to unlock value via a big-bang Rs 9,950 crore IPO, India's biggest ever in the IT services and enterprise tech segment.
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