BackEmami to acquire 30% stake in The Man Company parent
Helios Lifestyle, which sells men's grooming products under The Man Company brand, has been valued at Rs80-100 crore, Emami director Harsha V. Agarwal says
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Kolkata: Consumer goods maker Emami Ltd on Thursday said it had agreed to buy a 30% stake in Helios Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd, which sells men’s personal grooming products online, for an undisclosed sum.
The deal, subject to due diligence, is expected to be concluded by the end of December 2018, Emami said in a statement.
Helios Lifestyle, which sells upscale products under The Man Company brand, has been valued at Rs80-100 crore, Emami director Harsha V. Agarwal said in a phone interview.
Helios Lifestyle has no manufacturing facility and its enterprise value is largely a reflection of its assessed goodwill.
It is a strategic investment, although Emami has the option to buy out the founding shareholders going forward and take 100% control, it has no plan to do so immediately, Agarwal added.
Emami has two so-called mass market brands in the men’s personal care segment: Fair and Handsome and He. The segment is estimated at Rs5,000 crore, according to Agarwal.
Emami will offer its own offline distribution network to scale up sales of the more premium products from The Man Company line, but will not use Helios Lifestyle’s online sales channel to sell its Fair and Handsome and He range of products, according to Agarwal.
The market for men’s personal grooming products in India remains “hugely untapped", the statement cited Helios Lifestyle’s managing director Hitesh Dhingra as saying.
“With the strategic association with Emami, we have found a perfect partner to help us accelerate our growth," he added.
Helios Lifestyle was incorporated in 2013 with five founding shareholders. It has received investments from various angel investors over the past four years. When Emami concludes the acquisition of 30% of the company’s shares, it will become the single largest shareholder, according to Agarwal.
Emami shares the vision of Helios Lifestyle’s co-founders to turn The Man Company into a “global brand", the statement cited Rohit Chawla, one of the founders of the Delhi-based company, as saying.
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