LVMH is making news in India as it has become very active in the market through its private equity arm L Capital Asia. Ravi Thakran is their managing partner for the dedicated fund for Asia, created last year with a corpus of $650 million. Their focus is on China but they are very upbeat about the potential of the Indian markets offer. They believe that if they bring in the operations know how and provide the capital the businesses here can be transformed into valuable brands in a relatively short time.
They are in advanced negotiations with India’s biggest jewelry retailer Gitanjali Group to buy a stake in the company. Ravi Thakran of L Capital who is LVMH’s group president, South Asia, South East Asia and Middle East confirmed the development and added that the process of due diligence is on at the moment. The European luxury conglomerate plans to invest about 450 crores Indian Rupees which is approximately $100 million in the Gitanjali Group.
L Capital Asia is in different stages of discussion and negotiations with some other lifestyle and fashion companies. According to reliable reports Genesis Color a major luxury retailer with 125 stores is also under serious consideration of the fund. According to Mr. Thakran, the fund has studied and assessed about 108 companies in China, India and South East Asia as potential investment targets. But 80% of the investments will go in the Indian and Chinese markets. The fund is looking at a 500% return on investments in a four to five year period. They are focusing on aspirational and luxury brands. They are particularly interested in wellness and beauty brands based on Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of medicine because of its potential to do well in the west.
Via: hindustantimes
