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In a landscape dotted with the biggest global names, ChrysCap has held its own. Now, having raised the largest India-focussed fund ever, it must break fresh ground

- By HIMANI KOTHARI & PAYAL GANGULY

In 2007, the year ChrysCapital first wrote a cheque to Mankind Pharma, the drugmaker was in the public eye for its Manforce brand of condoms. It had become a full-fledged pharma company by the time the private equity (PE) firm exited in 2015.

Along the way, Mankind, nudged by ChrysCapital, got into chronic therapies and stepped out of its small-town comfort zone. Today, nearly a third of Mankind's business comes from chronic therapies and metros bring in two-thirds of its revenues. The company also acquired Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan as its corporate brand ambassador, while actor Sunny Leone came on board as the face of its condom brand.

“Truly transformative,” says Mankind's global CFO, Ashutosh Dhawan, describing the repositioning, “especially in shaping product strategy and sharpening our thinking on how to build big, profitable brands”.

Mankind was not the only party in this relationship to reap the benefits. ChrysCapital's initial ₹100 crore investment yielded 11 times more in returns when it exited Mankind in 2015, selling its stake to Capital International.

“That growth did not happen by accident,” adds Dhawan. “ChrysCapital had strong domain knowledge in pharma, so it was able to guide and mentor us effectively.”