TR Capital completes two India direct secondary deals

Arohan is a non-banking finance company (NBFC) that provides microfinancing solutions and insurance in nine low-income states through a network of 435 branches. It has one million active customers. The company has further expansion planned for 2018.

TR has taken a 10.5% stake, buying most of its shares from local impact investment firm Aavishkaar Venture Management and the rest from Tano Capital. According to AVCJ Research, Aavishkaar first invested INR520 million ($7.9 million) in Arohan in 2012 for a 56% interest and re-upped in 2013 and 2017. Tano paid INR600 million for a 30% stake in 2015 and re-upped alongside Aavishkaar last year.

That 2017 round came to INR1.55 billion and included a INR970 million contribution from Denmark’s Maj Invest Equity. Tano and Aavishkaar between them put in INR585 million. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, a longstanding investor in the company, and microfinance player IntelleCash were among the other participants.

Lenskart manufactures and distributes eyewear products including glasses, contact lenses and sunglasses through its e-commerce channels. It also has an offline sales network of 378 stores, some company-owned and some franchised out. This makes it the second-largest eyewear chain in India.

The company first received VC backing from IDG Ventures in 2011 when it was one of several e-commerce divisions of Valyoo, alongside BagsKart, WatchKart and JewelKart. The other divisions were subsequently closed. Lenskart received INR530 million from IDG and Unilazer Ventures in 2013 and TR became an active shareholder in the business the same year.

This was followed by a INR1.35 billion Series C round in 2015 led by TPG Capital’s growth unit and a INR4 billion Series D led by the International Finance Corporation. TR has acquired shares from TPG Growth and Unilazer to take its holding to more than 10%.

“Private equity in India is maturing and the development of the secondary market is a natural consequence of the large volume of private equity investments during the past 15 years,” said Paul Robine, founding partner and CEO of TR, in a statement.

TR has executed 32 transactions across three funds and currently manages capital commitments of $400 million. It acquires positions in portfolio companies from other financial sponsors or buys fund interests from LPs that are looking for liquidity. On the direct side in India, TR has previously invested in Flipkart, Urban Ladder, Sedemac, SSIPL Group, and Vivimed Labs.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Secondaries
• Expansion
• Trade sale
• Financials
• Consumer
• India
• Secondaries
• Exit
• Financial Services
• TR Capital