Everstone invests $16m in India fashion house

Set up in 1969, Ritu Kumar produces a range of women's clothing under three main brands: Ri, a premium bridal and formal wear line; Ritu Kumar, a line in ethnic every day and semi-formal wear; and Label, a Western-style designer brand.

According to a release, the new capital will be used to help scale up the business and build the profile of its brand portfolio, in particular its international Label line, which was launched in 2002.

"In the last seven years we have been developing structures within the business including sub-brands and product lines to create scale in the premium and luxury segments," said Amrish Kumar, director and CEO of Ritu Kumar. "We believe that the time is right both internally and in the macro environment for the infusion of growth capital."

India's fashion and apparel segment is a popular target among PE investors. Last month, it was announced that The Carlyle Group would invest INR2.5 billion in Credo Brands Marketing, the company behind Indian casual wear brand Mufit.

In December last year, Warburg Pincus and Faering Capital invested INR3 billion in Biba Apparels, a firm engaged in women's and girls' ethnic wear. Meanwhile, General Atlantic bought Future Venture Capital's stake in And Designs India last August in a deal reported to be worth INR1.5 billion.

According to Gurgaon-based consultancy Technopak Advisors, India's womenswear segment was worth INR785 billion in 2012 and the market is expected to see compound annual growth of 9% over the next five years to reach INR1.2 trillion by 2017.

Langham Capital was the financial advisor in the transaction. 

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Expansion
• India
• Everstone Capital
• Consumer
• Growth capital