Private equity giant KKR on Wednesday said it has acquired a majority stake in India’s pallet pooling platform LEAP, its latest bet in Asia’s growing infrastructure sector.
Founded by Sunu Mathew in 2013, LEAP is India’s largest pallet pooling company with solutions including equipment pooling, returnable packaging, inventory management and movement, transportation, and repair and maintenance, to customers across e-commerce, consumer durables, beverages, fast-moving consumer goods and automotive.
The company claims to be operating a network of 21 warehouses in more than 3,500 customer locations, and managing more than 6 million total assets, including pallets and containers across India for its customers.
In 2021, Morgan Stanley invested $25 million to acquire a stake in LEAP India. In the same year, LEAP raised $34 million in a secondary round from investors led by Schroder Adveq and IIFL fund.
According to media reports, the company is also looking to go public and raise nearly Rs 1,000 crore through the IPO.
KKR said its investment in LEAP builds on strong macroeconomic tailwinds in India that include a focus on modernising, automating, and optimising efficiencies in supply chains and logistics services.
As Indian corporations increasingly look to focus on core operations and sustainably streamline logistics arrangements, there is a significant opportunity for platforms such as LEAP to provide high-quality and efficient supply chain solutions, KKR added.
The investment is also part of KKR’s growing Asia infrastructure strategy.
Earlier this year, KKR invested an additional $250 million in India’s Serentica Renewables, months after injecting $400 million into the company. Last year, KKR and Hero Group agreed to invest $450 million in the company’s renewable energy arm Hero Future Energies (HFE).
Separately, in Aug 2022, KKR launched the Highways Infrastructure Trust (HIT), its third infrastructure investment trust in India.