New Delhi, Aug. 3 -- New York-based KKR, among the top private equity firms in terms of exits in India last year, is keeping up the monetisation momentum this year as it is set to harvest an investment it made in a company just three years ago.

The alternative investment firm, which sold part of its stake in Lenskart earlier this year after exiting drugmaker JB Chemicals for $1.4 billion and investment bank Avendus while also monetising an infrastructure investment last year, will trim its holdings in LEAP India Ltd through the company's upcoming initial public offering.

The PE firm will sell shares worth about Rs 2,000 crore ($210 million) in the supply chain company. LEAP India also counts alternative investment firms Sixth Sense Ventures and FirstBridge among its investors. They are not selling any shares in the IPO.

LEAP India, which provides on-demand asset pooling services for supply chain management and was founded in 2013 by Sunu Mathew, will issue fresh shares worth Rs 480 crore. It will use Rs 360 crore of this to repay debts. The fresh issue is larger than its earlier plan to raise Rs 400 crore when it filed its draft proposal.

A person close to the IPO process said the company planned to launch the IPO in February but delayed it due to geopolitical uncertainties. "The company's capex plans indicate future growth, which we expect to continue. So, they increased the issue to provide capital for future growth," the person said, asking not to be named.

The IPO opens on Friday and will end on Aug 11. The company has set a price band of Rs 151-159 per share for the IPO. At the upper end, it will fetch a post-IPO valuation of approximately Rs 7,005 crore ($735 million).

Overall, KKR invested nearly Rs 2,155 crore ($260 million) into the company. Most of this came in September 2023, when KKR acquired the stake held by Morgan Stanley Private Equity, PE firm TVS Capital, Sixth Sense and Mayfield, among others. The deal was struck at a valuation of around Rs 3,600 crore, said a person aware of the matter.

The PE firm doubled down on its investment in December 2024, when it infused Rs 333 crore while Sixth Sense contributed Rs 70 crore and Indian PE firm First Bridge invested Rs 60 crore. That deal valued LEAP India at about Rs 5,000 crore, the person said.

KKR currently owns a little less than 74% stake in the company. Sixth Sense and First Bridge own 1.41% and 1.21%, respectively. Founder Mathew holds 21.07%.

The partial exit will help KKR take out a little less than the principal amount it invested in LEAP India. According to VCCircle estimates, the PE firm is likely to achieve a 2.2x multiple on its invested capital in rupee terms on a blended cost basis and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 32% on the partial exit in the IPO. In dollar terms, the IRR is likely to be around 25% with a 1.9x multiple on invested capital. This is above the 20% rupee benchmark and the 15% returns in dollars that alternative investment firms typically target.

LEAP India provides wooden pallets, containers and material handling equipment such as forklifts to clients across e-commerce, consumer durables, beverages, fast-moving consumer goods and automotive sectors. It counts Coca-Cola, Marico, Haier, Panasonic, Sanathan Textiles, and Daimler India among some of its clients. Its net sales in FY26 grew by 56% year-on-year to Rs 729 crore. Meanwhile, its net profit was up 66% to Rs 62 crore.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.