Now Reading: Private credit in food sector jumps 12-fold in H1 2026, says EY report
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Private credit in food sector jumps 12-fold in H1 2026, says EY report
Private credit in food sector jumps 12-fold in H1 2026, says EY report
Private credit investments in India's food and beverage (F&B) sector surged 12-fold in the first half of 2026, according to an EY report released August 26. The F&B sector's share of total…
Private credit investments in India's food and beverage (F&B) sector surged 12-fold in the first half of 2026, according to an EY report released August 26. The F&B sector's share of total private credit deal value jumped from 1 per cent in H2 2025 to 12 per cent in H1 2026, making it the third-largest sector for such investments.
Marquee deals drove the momentum: HyFun Foods Group raised $156 million for refinancing and working capital, and Lenexis Foodworks secured $113 million in acquisition financing. EY partner Dinkar Venkatasubramanian said private credit has become a pillar of India's financing ecosystem, with new opportunities emerging in acquisition financing, growth capital and special situations.
The report noted that private credit investors are increasingly looking beyond traditional sectors, betting on businesses riding India's growing consumer spending and premiumisation trends. The next full-year EY report on private credit will cover the second half of 2026.
Indian Opinion Analysis
A dozen-fold jump in private credit flowing into food and beverage within six months signals a structural shift, not a one-off spike. India's F&B sector has long been fragmented and reliant on bank lending, which often shied away from acquisition or expansion financing for mid-sized firms. The scale of the HyFun Foods and Lenexis Foodworks transactions, refinancing and acquisition plays, shows that private credit is stepping in where traditional lenders are less aggressive. Under the RBI's 2018 framework for alternative investment funds, private credit funds are allowed to take equity-linked or structured debt exposure, a flexibility banks do not have. The real measure of whether this is a durable trend will come in the H2 2026 data: if food and beverage holds its double-digit share across a larger total deal pool, the sector will have graduated from niche to mainstream within India's private credit market.
Source: thehindubusinessline.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
