Motilal Oswal Alternates Announces a Stellar Return of 5x+ from its Full Exit in Happy Forgings Limited

Mumbai, 12 February 2026 — Motilal Oswal Alternates (“the Fund”), a reputed home grown private equity fund in India, today announced the successful full exit of its investment in Happy Forgings Limited (“HFL”), a precision engineering and auto components manufacturer in India. This marks the first full exit of its third vintage fund (India Business Excellence Fund III). The investment has delivered an approximate 5.3x multiple of invested capital (MOIC) and 30%+ internal rate of return (IRR), achieved amid a volatile and dynamic public market environment.

Established in 1979 by Mr. Paritosh Kumar Garg and led by Mr. Ashish Garg, Happy Forgings has built a strong presence in forged and precision-machined transmission and engine components for automotive and industrial applications. The company is the second largest manufacturers of commercial vehicle and high-horsepower industrial crankshafts and operates one of the country’s most advanced forging facilities, including a 14,000-tonne forging press.

Motilal Oswal Alternates became the first institutional investor in HFL, investing approximately INR 2,000 million during 2018–19 for an 11.76% stake, and partnered with the company through its growth journey and public listing in December 2023. The Fund partially monetised its holding through an Offer for Sale (OFS) in the IPO and has exited its remaining stake in subsequent tranches. The IPO saw strong participation from global and domestic institutional investors including Fidelity International, Morgan Stanley, Neuberger Berman, Kotak Offshore, WhiteOak Capital, SBI Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, and ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, among others. The offering was subscribed approximately 83x overall, with the QIB portion subscribed ~215x, being the highest QIB subscription levels recorded in India’s auto component sector.

The company has established a track record of consistent revenues and high profitability over the years. Revenues have more than doubled from ₹585 crore in FY21 to ₹1,409 crore in FY25 and profit after tax grew 3x from ₹86 crore in FY21 to ₹267 crore in FY25, demonstrating margin expansion led by growth in value added machined products. Revenues and profit after tax for nine months ended December 2025 was ₹1,122 crore and ₹218 crore respectively.

EBITDA and net profit margin have expanded from 27% and 15% in FY21 to 30.1% and 19.4% for the nine months ended December 2025 respectively. During its investment lifecycle, the Fund has partnered closely with the promoters and management team, supporting growth initiatives and institutional development. Key areas of collaboration included strengthening governance frameworks, enhancing organisational processes, supporting strategic capacity expansion, deepening investor engagement, and positioning the business for long-term value creation in public markets. Mr. Prakash Bagla, Managing Director, Motilal Oswal Alternates, said: “Happy Forgings exemplifies the type of founder-led, niche engineering-driven business we seek to partner with — combining strong execution capabilities along with long-term strategic clarity. The company’s consistent performance across market cycles reflects the strength of its operating platform and the deep experience of its promoters and management team. We are proud to have supported the company through a phase of significant growth and institutional evolution and remain confident in its continued trajectory within the global automotive and industrial ecosystem, particularly in the context of India’s ‘Make in India’ manufacturing push.”

About Motilal Oswal Alternates Motilal Oswal Alternates, co-founded by Mr. Vishal Tulsyan and the Motilal Oswal Group, is an alternative investment platform in India managing approximately USD 3.3 billion across private equity, real estate, and private credit strategies. Established in 2006, the private equity business manages approximately USD 2 billion and focuses on partnering with mid-market businesses to enable their next phase of growth and institutionalisation.

The real estate platform, launched in 2009, manages approximately USD 1.1 billion across 190+ investments and has completed 130+ exits. Building on its mid-market investing expertise, the platform has launched a private credit strategy targeting USD 200–300 million.

Motilal Oswal Alternates operates as an independent platform within the Motilal Oswal Group, a diversified financial services institution in India with businesses across Securities, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Alternatives, Housing Finance, and Investment Banking, and approximately USD 43 billion in equity AUM. Leveraging the Group’s equities heritage and nationwide distribution presence, Motilal Oswal Alternates partners with high-quality businesses to enable scale, institutionalisation, and public market readiness while delivering strong risk-adjusted returns for investors. For more information, please refer www.motilaloswalalt.com