360 ONE Asset, a wholly owned subsidiary of 360 ONE WAM Ltd, will invest about $70 million (Rs 635 crore) in Iscon Balaji Foods Ltd (IBF), a potato processor and exporter of value-added potato products.
This is 360 ONE Asset’s largest investment in the consumer sector, the alternative asset manager said in a press release.
The announcement comes about a year after VCCircle first reported that Iscon Balaji had started planning to raise external capital and six months after VCCircle reported that a clutch of investment firms including 360 ONE were in the race to invest in the company.
Tarun Sharma, senior fund manager and strategy head for consumer and healthcare at 360 ONE Asset, said that Iscon Balaji Foods combines “high growth, attractive margins and a large global market opportunity”.
The company has “strong structural moats” and a proven management team focused on execution, he said, adding that the investment embodies 360 ONE’s consumer strategy of backing scaled leaders in their categories.
The investment will enable Iscon Balaji to expand capacity, deepen its farmer-linked supply chain to 25,000 in the next three years from over 10,000 as of now, upgrade its processing and cold chain infrastructure, launch new value-added product lines and expand into international markets, the statement added.
“Over the last decade, we have focused on building a globally competitive, integrated food platform from India. As we enter the next phase of our journey — expanding capacity, product innovation, and international presence — 360 ONE Asset brings long-term capital and institutional partnership that aligns strongly with our vision,” said Neel Kotak, managing director and CEO, Iscon Balaji Foods.
Avendus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Iscon Balaji Foods on the transaction.
Incorporated in 2012, Iscon Balaji Foods produces dehydrated potato flakes and ready-to-fry snacks such as french fries, burger patty, potato cheese shots, garlic potato shots and herbed potato wedges among other items. It has three manufacturing facilities in Punjab and Gujarat. It supplies its products to quick service restaurant operators and food service customers in India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the Far East.
Iscon Balaji posted consolidated revenue from operations of Rs 1,185 crore for 2023-24, up from Rs 668 crore the year before. Its net profit rose to Rs 263.3 crore from Rs 28.5 crore during the period under review, as per VCCEdge. As per a Crisil Ratings report, the company's overseas expansion may have helped it to generate revenue of somewhere between Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 2,000 crore in FY25.
The food and beverage segment in India drew strong interest from investors in 2025 with Haldiram’s, one of the most well-known snacks makers in India, pocketing cheques from four PE-style investors at a valuation of more than $10 billion.