Lighthouse invests $35m in India's Aqualite

The company offers more than 6,500 products under brands such as Ultra, Eva, Real-Pu, Leads, and Airwear. It has manufacturing facilities in Haryana and Rajasthan and maintains a distribution network comprising 35,000 retailers. Turnover for the current financial year is expected to surpass INR8.5 billion.

"We strongly believe in the growth story of the footwear industry in India with the current under-penetration – per capita spend of only 1.8 pairs per annum compared to 3.1 in China – and consumer preference shift towards branded wear. Aqualite has achieved scale in footwear industry, on back of product quality and relationship with the channel partners," Sachin Bhartiya, a partner at Lighthouse, said in a statement.

This is the private equity firm's fourth investment of 2018, following commitments to mattress brand Duroflex, beauty retailer Nykaa, and orthotic soft goods specialist Tynor Orthotics. Lighthouse, which focuses on growth investments in India's consumer sector, is in the process of raising its third fund. A first close of $150 million came in March. The overall target is $200 million.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• South Asia
• Expansion
• Consumer
• India
• Lighthouse Funds
• Growth capital