Private-equity firm Carlyle Group acquired a majority stake in New Delhi-based beauty and wellness services provider VLCC Healthcare Ltd for around $300 million.
WHO: Founded in 1989 by Vandana and Mukesh Luthra, VLCC provides aesthetic dermal treatments and weight management services across a network of 210 retail clinics in 118 cities and 11 countries in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In addition, it operates 100 skill development institutes in India.
WHY: The investment underscores Carlyle's overall conviction in India's long-term economic and domestic consumption story. The private equity firm has invested over $5.5 billion in over 40 transactions in India as of September 2022.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Mukesh Luthra, Chairman of VLCC, said, "The investment by one of the world's largest global investment firms—that has built a stellar reputation for creating long-term value for companies, shareholders, people and communities—is a reaffirmation of the strength of the VLCC brand that we have nurtured, built and grown over the last three decades."
Amit Jain, Managing Director and co-head of Carlyle India, said, "Carlyle will help VLCC accelerate growth through investments in brand building, product expansion, and build on a national digital and e-commerce network. Currently modern trade contributes 38% of the topline, of which 23-25% is through e-commerce as compared to single digits 3 years ago. Likewise ad spends that are 10 to 12% of the topline will be scaled up."
Jain added, "The share of discretionary spends will only go up in India and the looking good, feeling better trend will rise as India's per capital consumption spends double from $2000/per capita to $5000/per capita and even higher. In today's clutter of D2C brands, VLCC stands out with its product efficacy, brand awareness, trust factor. And it’s evident as 60% plus are repeat customers in our services business this fiscal," said Jain.
DETAILS:
