Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) Ltd on Monday, March 20, said the company's farm equipment sector (FES) completed the acquisition of MITRA Agro Equipments Private Ltd for Rs 61.71 crore.
The company will increase its shareholding from the existing 47.33 percent to 100 percent in MITRA Agro Equipments Private Ltd.
This will make MITRA a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra with effect from March 17, 2023. As part of this acquisition, Mahindra fully bought out Omnivore's stake in the business, the company said in an exchange filing.
Founded in 2012 by Devneet Bajaj, MITRA is the Indian market leader in high-precision orchard sprayers and a trusted brand for farmers growing fruits like grapes, pomegranates and oranges.
The company has more than tripled its revenue from FY18 to FY22 and now employs over 200 people and has successfully started exporting its products globally. Post-acquisition by Mahindra, MITRA plans to accelerate the expansion of its product portfolio alongside its network in India and the overseas markets.
Hemant Sikka, President of Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, "Mahindra aims to grow its farm machinery business by 10x in five years and is making rapid progress towards achieving this goal. The additional share purchase in MITRA would aid Mahindra’s growth and expansion into the growing horticulture market."
MITRA was an early entrant in the then-nascent Indian agritech startup ecosystem. Omnivore, a venture capital firm that pioneered agritech investing in India, was one of its first institutional investors. MITRA understood farmer needs and aspirations and built machines to automate labour-intensive farm jobs and save resources.
Dev Bajaj, the Founder of MITRA, said, "After 11 years of building a passionate team, more than 10 innovative products, and a radical rural sales strategy, the journey of exiting MITRA to M&M is gratifying."
Mark Kahn, the Managing Partner of Omnivore, said through Mahindra’s expansive dealer network, MITRA's cutting-edge technology will now be accessible to horticulture farmers across India. As the first institutional investor in the startup, this is a very proud moment for Omnivore and for agritech in India.
