New Delhi, Sept. 29 -- Private equity firm KKR said Tuesday it will pick up a majority stake in Cisternina Logistics Pvt Ltd, a bulk liquid and gas storage company set up in 2024, and help it make an acquisition as it looks to build a pan-India liquid storage and logistics platform.
The investment will support Cisternina's proposed purchase of the liquid storage terminal and rail businesses of Ganesh Benzoplast Ltd (GBL), KKR said in a statement, adding that this would be the platform's anchor asset.
KKR did not disclose the size of its stake or the value of its investment. However, Mumbai-listed GBL said in a stock exchange filing it will sell the two businesses to Cisternina for Rs 1,154 crore ($120 million).
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, KKR said.
Mumbai-based GBL also makes specialty chemicals. It moved into liquid storage in the 1990s, starting at Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai, and later added terminals at Cochin and Goa. It has installed capacity of 352,000 kilolitres (KL) across 98 tanks as of March 2025. KKR put the business's operating and under-construction capacity at about 500,000 KL and did not break down the split.
Cisternina targets customers in the energy, chemicals, bulk liquids and edible-oil sectors, with bulk chemicals, edible oils, LNG, CNG and LPG as its core segments. It aims to build about 1.5 million KL of static tank capacity, plus gas distribution networks, through acquisitions and greenfield and brownfield projects. It has signed memoranda of understanding with the Chennai, Goa and Cochin ports to develop storage terminals.
Cisternina was founded by Amit Saboo, Kartik Deuskar and Puneet Kedia, who KKR said have worked with global private equity firms and Indian infrastructure companies on projects in India and Africa, including distressed and turnaround assets.
"The acquisition of GBL's liquid storage terminal business represents an important first step," said Saboo, the company's managing director.
KKR said India's ports handle about 95% of the country's external trade by volume, and that the liquid storage market is fragmented, with few scaled, professionally managed operators spread across multiple locations.
"We see an opportunity to apply this platform-building approach to India's liquid and gas logistics sector," said Ravi Thanvi, director for real assets at KKR India.
The investment comes through KKR's Asia Pacific infrastructure strategy. Its India infrastructure investments include Serentica Renewables, Hero Future Energies, LEAP India, Allfleet, and infrastructure investment trusts IndiGrid, Vertis Infrastructure Trust and NHIT, according to the statement.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.