ChrysCapital acquires minority stake in Bengaluru-based Nash Industries

“Nash exemplifies the emergence of globally competitive manufacturing from India. Its integrated capabilities across mechanical, electrical, electronics, and design domains position it well to serve next-generation sectors, including high-growth areas such as artificial intelligence and clean energy," said Raghav Ramdev, managing director at ChrysCapital.

The companies did not disclose the transaction details. In September, Mint first reported that a clutch of private equity firms, including ChrysCapital, had expressed interest in acquiring a 25-30% stake in Nash Industries, valued at about $150 million.

The capital infusion will enable Nash Industries to accelerate its next phase of growth and comes against the backdrop of rising investor interest in India’s evolving electronics manufacturing and value-added industrial ecosystem, driven by global supply chain diversification, increasing localization and demand from technology-intensive end markets.

Other similar deals in the manufacturing segment include Bengaluru-based semiconductor firm Tessolve’s $150 million fundraise led by TPG Growth, and Bain Capital’s investment in Aurangabad-based automotive component manufacturer Dhoot Transmission. Bain also announced a strategic partnership with RSB Transmissions, a global manufacturer of automotive, construction, and off-highway equipment systems.

“Our core strength has always been manufacturing. We are now looking to create a manufacturing presence not just in India but globally as well. We recently launched our Middle-East facility," Sanjay Wadhwa, chairman of Nash Industries, told Mint in an interview. “The idea is to be a multi-geographical manufacturing facility over a period of time. Being present in multiple regions is our ultimate objective," he said.

Forging bonds

Wadhwa further added that the partnership with ChrysCapital will enable the company to scale faster, deepen its technological capabilities, and respond to customer needs with even greater agility.

“Over the last decade, there has been a significant shift in emphasis on manufacturing. China-plus-one has been a huge opportunity. Make in India has been a huge conversation. These have brought several inbound opportunities for us—assembling ATMs, EV boards—we’ve always been in that space with other customers," he said, adding that conversations with clean energy companies looking at China-plus-one have brought tailwinds. “I believe this is an inflection point—not just for us, but for the entire manufacturing industry in India," he said.

For context, the US-India trade deal announced on Monday night would slash US tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50% lowering trade barriers between the two countries. Last month, India also concluded its free trade agreement with the European Union after more than two decades of negotiations, giving the world’s most populous nation duty-free access to the EU.

Sandeep Wadhwa, joint managing director of Nash Industries, also alluded to the sentiments. “It couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for us. We always believed the tariffs would go away, but it took longer than expected. There’s a strong secular export story across multiple sectors. We see this as a twin deal—the EU agreement and the US settlement. Overall, this will benefit many Indian sectors and strengthen the long-term US-India partnership," he said.

“It’s an export-driven business—around 60% exports, with North America as a key market. Last year, there were tariff-related headwinds, but the assumption was that these wouldn’t be permanent. As of last night, the tariff issue seems to have been resolved at around 18%. That’s a strong outcome," ChrysCapital’s Ramdev added.

Global footprint

Sandeep further added that the partnership with ChrysCapital will help the company invest more in technology, strengthen operations and deliver high-reliability solutions to customers across critical industries. “We haven’t done acquisitions in the past. But we can now selectively look at opportunities depending on the sector and the kind of speciality we want to provide to our customers," Sandeep said.

He added that the firm’s presence in the European Union is limited. “We could explore opportunities in certain markets if it gives us access to a more diversified customer base."

Meanwhile, Nash provides full-suite design and manufacturing solutions and offers integrated box-build capabilities. Established in 1971, the company claims a market share in banking hardware and is rapidly expanding its presence across high-growth segments such as data centres, clean energy, gaming hardware, and industrial motherboards.

It is also among a select group of manufacturers in India with fully integrated capabilities spanning mechanical, electrical and electronics components, the company said in the statement. Nash operates 15+ state-of-the-art manufacturing units across South and West India and caters to a diversified base of blue-chip global customers. The company’s revenues have quadrupled over the last 5 years, driven by shifts in global outsourcing. As of FY25, the company reported revenue of ₹1,500-1,600 crore.

PE investment in manufacturing

Founded in 1999, ChrysCapital is one of the largest private equity firms investing in India, with about $8.5 billion raised across 10 private equity funds, a continuation fund, and a public markets fund. Some of its other manufacturing investments in the country include ILJIN Electronics, Safex Chemicals, Livguard and GMM Pfaudler.

It has also invested in other sectors, such as enterprise technology, financial services, healthcare, and consumer, and has backed companies including the National Stock Exchange, Hero FinCorp, Theobroma, and Intas Pharma.

The homegrown private equity (PE) firm raised $2.2 billion for its tenth fund last year, over 60% larger than its ninth fund. The latest fund saw a significant shift in the LP base. A little more than $1.7 billion came from global investors and about $300 million from domestic institutions and family offices.

With companies globally increasingly sourcing from India and the recent budget outlays and other government initiatives, “I think we are going long on manufacturing from fund 10 onwards," Ramdev said. “We already have exposure to certain segments, but we may want to add more within the manufacturing space."

Avendus acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Nash Industries.