OmniActive Health Technologies Ltd. has acquired 85% stake, and has entered into definitive agreements to acquire the balance stake, in Bangalore-based Indfrag Ltd, a producer of natural extracts for the dietary supplement, sports nutrition, pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. The acquisition includes all products related to Indfrag’s Food & Nutrition business. This is in line with OmniActive’s program to create global partnerships that help expand the portfolio of high quality authenticated ingredients for the dietary supplement and functional food industries.

Indfrag has established a significant presence in the international market as a supplier of high quality botanical and plant extracts from India and South East Asia for the dietary supplement and nutraceuticals industry. The company specializes in production of well-authenticated and standardized natural extracts with fully validated processes and strong quality standards which meet global industry standards. Indfrag ingredients are found in many leading sports and fitness nutrition products of the world. Indfrag is a leader in garcinia cambogia, green coffee, valerian and natural caffeine extracts, and a prime manufacturer of other products such turmeric, green tea boswellia, fenugreek, senna, coleus, guarana, etc.

“Indfrag is a world leader in several well known botanical extracts which form the core of supplement formulas worldwide. The company holds a leadership position in standardized plant extracts. Further, with their strong footprint at the source, they have developed a library of over 100 botanicals, which provides a strong foundation for launching products that complement OmniActive’s innovation platform in meeting emerging industry and consumer needs,” said Sanjaya Mariwala, managing director and CEO of OmniActive Health Technologies Ltd. “By coming together, both companies intend to spearhead industry efforts to bring to our customers fully authenticated and validated extracts that meet the emerging standards of safety, reliability, transparency and traceability.”

Building on an M&A strategy to grow inorganically, OmniActive has acquired Indfrag by raising funds from various sources including the recent PE investment by Everstone. In the last 18 months, OmniActive completed 12 human clinical trials in healthy populations across its portfolio of branded ingredients, providing unique, science-based claims to expand consumer offerings. 

Sanjaya Mariwala also heads the Nutraceutical Taskforce of FICCI (Federation of Indian of Chambers of Commerce and Industry). “OmniActive’s purpose is to improve lives by enhancing nutrition and wellness through science and innovation. As part of the FICCI taskforce, we are working to align the Indian industry to meet the expectations of regulators and fully justify the confidence of the consumer in such products,” stated Mariwala. “OmniActive is also playing an active role in markets such as the U.S. with industry leaders and associations like UNPA to evolve benchmarks and standards for product authentication, quality and supply chain traceability. Like-minded companies need to work together for the betterment of the industry, and the OmniActive-Indfrag marriage will help us gain momentum in this mission.”

“Having grown to our current size we have been exploring partnerships and alliances which can help expand the market for our current products, and multiply our capability to bring some exciting new products to the market,” said Philip Samuel, Indfrag’s founder and managing director. “With its focused, IP protected and clinically substantiated portfolio of branded ingredients and strong industry linkages, OmniActive is a natural partner.”

Indfrag will operate as an independent business, and OmniActive and Indfrag teams will continue to manage their respective product lines and customers. The current senior management team led by Philip Samuel will continue to engage, which will help maintain customer relationships and transition of the business to OmniActive. OmniActive will take the lead in expanding the technical and scientific support for the Indfrag range of products. Along with Sanjaya Mariwala, Deep Mishra, managing director at Everstone India and Chaitanya Desai, COO at OmniActive, will be joining the board of Indfrag.  Philip Samuel, Indfrag’s founder will continue as chairman of the board.

Lazard acted as a sole financial advisor to the Shareholders of Indfrag Ltd on the transaction.