KKR, the investment firm based in New York, has agreed to take a majority stake in Cisternina Logistics, a bulk liquid and gas storage and logistics company in India. KKR signed definitive agreements, and the financial terms were not disclosed, Mint reported.
Cisternina was founded in 2024. The investment will support its planned purchase of the liquid storage terminal and rail business of Ganesh Benzoplast Limited, which will anchor the new platform. That business runs a privately owned tank farm at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port that opened in the early 1990s. It has 500,000 kiloliters of operating and under-construction storage capacity across that port, Cochin, in southwestern India, and Goa.
Ravi Thanvi, director of real assets at KKR India, said in a statement: “We see an opportunity to apply this platform-building approach to India’s liquid and gas logistics sector.” Amit Saboo, Cisternina’s founder and managing director, said the acquisition “represents an important first step, providing us with an established operating base at strategic ports and a strong foundation for future growth.”
Mint reported that India’s coastal infrastructure handles 95% of the country’s external trade by volume, and that demand for bulk liquid storage should grow steadily over the next decade. The market is fragmented, with few scaled, professionally managed operators in more than one location. Cisternina plans to grow through acquisitions, expansion of existing sites and new construction. DealStreetAsia reported that it aims to reach 1.5 million kiloliters of static tank capacity and has memorandums of understanding with the ports of Chennai, in southern India, Goa and Cochin.
India is a key market for KKR’s infrastructure business, which has invested in logistics, transportation, renewable energy and power transmission there.
Why it matters. KKR describes a fragmented sector and plans to build a national operator in it. India is home to many such opportunities and I expect to see global PE firms pick out a number of such sectors where scale matters.
