Indian PE fund looks to invest $70 million in domestic luxury brands
Delhi-based private equity fund Brands and Beyond is looking to invest 70 million dollars in home-grown luxury and lifestyle brands over the next three years. The fund, backed by large families from Europe, Singapore and India, has chosen India as its base after five years of market research and plans to take 12-14 Indian luxury and lifestyle brands to the global stage.
“Indian luxury market is still small. There is a lot of potential in Indian brands. Global markets are big and structured and growth is much easier. We want to take Indian brands global,” said Francois Arpels, founder and MD of Brands and Beyond. He was speaking on the sidelines of The Lyfe Symposium, an annual conference of the global luxury think tank ‘The Lyfe’.
Arpels is also on the advisory board of global skincare brand Skin Inc and the Taiwanese fine jewellery designer brand Cindy Chao.
The fund is looking to invest in luxury brands across categories such as beauty, ready-to-wear, accessories and jewellery, which Arpels described as ‘non-ethnic’ but in keeping with Indian design and aesthetics.
“Right aesthetic, non-ethnic style and keeping the Indian DNA intact in the products could very well be successful internationally. Indian brands can capitalise on the wealth of the nation in crafts. We are looking at such 100% ‘made in India’ brands,” said Arpels, without disclosing the details.
Speaking about the challenges of luxury brands in India, Arpels said that brands suffer from lack of infrastructure here. “There is no typical high-street in India. Additionally, real estate cost is high which poses difficulties for global luxury brands,” he said.
Rajat Wahi, partner and head (consumer markets) at consulting firm KPMG, agreed: “There is (a) real estate challenge plus the consumption story of luxury in India is very small.”
The big opportunity here, Wahi said, is to invest in Indian brands and take them to international markets.