Funds managed and/or advised by Motilal Oswal Private Equity lead INR 900 million investment round in Kushal’s Retail Private Limited
Bengaluru, May 24, 2022: India Business Excellence Fund – III, a fund managed and/ or advised by MO Alternate Investment Advisors Private Limited(“MOPE”), has committed INR 850 million to Kushal’s Retail Private Limited (“Kushal’s”/ “Company”), a Bengaluru based omni-channel fashion jewellery retailer. The existing investor, India SME Investments – Fund I, have reiterated their confidence with a follow-on investment in Kushal’s, which is at a multifold valuation to the first round of investment in 2019.
Established in 2006, Kushal’s is a one-stop fashion jewellery destination offering a portfolio of 12,000+ designs across different collections such as temple, kundan, antique, contemporary, silver, etc. for multiple occasions including weddings, festivals, every day wear and other celebratory occasions. Company retails its products under ‘Kushal’s’ brand through a network of 43 exclusive brand outlets (“EBOs”) located primarily in South India and through its own website. Motilal Oswal Investment Banking acted as financial advisorto Kushal’s for the transaction.
Mr. Manish Gulechha, Promoter, Kushal’s Retail Private said, “We are very excited to partner with MOPE and believe that this partnership will help us accelerate our growth plans at a faster pace. MOPE’s experience of backing category leaders in the consumer segment will add tremendous value to Kushal’s. The funds raised will be utilized for expanding store presence, strengthening the online channel, brand investments and building a robust organization”
Mr. Vishal Tulsyan, Managing Director and CEO of MOPE commented, “We believe the fashion jewellery segment in India is poised to be a USD 6-7 bn industry in the next 4-5years, largely driven by increasing consumption by the millennial segment. The industry currently is largely unorganized, and we believe the shift towards organized retail and online will happen at a fast pace. Kushal’s, with its intricate designs, strong focus on product quality and a premium in-store shopping experience, has created a leading brand in this space, and like Tanishq in the real jewellery segment, will be the largest player in the fashion jewellery space.”
Mr. Mitin Jain, Founder of India SME Investments commented, “We welcome MOPE in our journey with Kushal’s which was envisioned in 2019 when the Company was a Partnership firm. Growing more than 5 folds in less than 3 years, Kushal’s investment reiterates the significant potential SME segment has to offer to equity investors in India.”
About Motilal Oswal Alternates
MO Alternate Investment Advisors Private Limited (MOPE) is a subsidiary of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited (MOFSL), a diversified financial services group with businesses in Securities, Asset Management, Housing Finance, Private Equity and Investment Banking. MOPE is managing both private equity and real estate funds and cumulatively manages around USD 2 bn between the two asset classes. The private equity vertical focuses on providing growth capital to mid-market companies across its preferred sectors of consumer, financial services, life sciences and niche manufacturing, typically in the range of INR 2,000 – 5,000 million. The private equity vertical has, in the last 15 years, made over 35 investments in the last 15 years and has completely exited fourteen investments, having delivered a gross MOIC of 5.7x (INR) and gross IRR of 27.8% (INR), making it one of the top performing platforms in India. Many portfolio companies of MOPE have, over the years, scaled to between USD 3-7 bn companies from less than USD 100 mn at the time of investment.
About India SME Investments – Fund I
India SME targets early growth stage companies in SME segment primarily based out of/operating in Tier 2/3centers with ingenious business models, targeting the lower/middle class segment benefitting from conversion of unorganized to organized play, changing consumer preferences, increase in rural demand and adoption of technology.
India SME Investments has earlier invested in the FinTech services space after backing Kreditbee, one of the leading FinTech’s, SmartCoin Financials which is fastest growing micro-lending FinTechand LokSuvidha Finance majorly in 2W finance space. The fund has also invested in companies like Citykart, which is one of the largest value retailers, Priniti Foods, a 100% B2C regional branded food processing and snacking company, and Source. One, one of the leadingB2B intermediate raw material supply chain management companies in India.
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