Private equity firm ChrysCapital Investment Advisors India Pvt. Ltd is in advanced talks to acquire a controlling stake in Credo Brands Marketing Pvt. Ltd, which owns men’s apparel brand Mufti, said media reports.
According to The Times of India, ChrysCapital may have to shell out Rs 500 crore for a stake in the company, while Mint pegged the deal at Rs 460-500 crore. The company has hired JM Financial Institutional Securities Ltd to help finalise the deal.
Email queries to ChrysCapital and Credo Brands did not elicit any response till the time of filing this report.
The Mumbai-based company’s shareholders have been trying to sale their stake for over three years. In 2014, Vccircle had reported that PE firm Carlyle India Advisors Pvt. Ltd had shown interest in the company, prompting Credo to even hire JM Financial to help seal the deal.
Mufti had even sought approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, which has since then been disbanded, for the stake sale, but eventually the talks with Carlyle fell through over a disagreement on the valuation.
The company was also in talks with TPG Growth, but that, too, did not materialise.
Mufti, which was launched in 1988, is a casual wear brand, focussing on shirts, jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters and jackets. It competes with the likes of Levi’s, Lee, Wrangler, Numero Uno and Killer. The products are available across 110 large-format stores, 1,400 multi-brand outlets and 250 exclusive brand outlets in India.
The apparel retail segment in the country has attracted several deals in the recent past.
In August 2016, US-based private equity investor TA Associates Management Lp had invested $140 million in TCNS Clothing Co Pvt. Ltd, which owns the W brand of clothing for women, to buy out shares from existing shareholders, including Matrix Partners India.
In September, Ahmedabad-based apparel maker Arvind Ltd had sold a stake in its lifestyle brands, Arvind Lifestyle Brands Ltd, to Multiples Private Equity.