Marico Ltd, the maker of Parachute hair oil and Saffola cooking oil, has bought the 55% stake it didn’t already own in Zed Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd, which runs male grooming brand Beardo.
The acquisition gives Marico complete control over Ahmedabad-based Beardo’s operations, the consumer goods maker said in a stock-exchange filing. It didn’t disclose financial details of the all-cash transaction.
Marico had picked up a 45% stake in Beardo in 2017.
The deal involved the full exit of Venture Catalysts and other investors from Beardo. The startup accelerator and incubation platform had led a seed round of funding in Beardo in 2016. It said on Wednesday that its investors generated five to eight times returns by selling their stake to Marico.
Beardo also counted actor Suniel Shetty as its investor and had recently roped in actor Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador.
Beardo was launched by Ashutosh Valani and Priyank Shah in June 2016. It offers growth oil, wax and shampoo for beard; wax and serum for hair; and lotion, soap and face wash for skin. The company claims to have strong presence online and at salons.
The company’s net sales surged to Rs 78.5 crore for the year through March 2020 from Rs 48.2 crore for 2018-19 and Rs 22.6 crore the year before, Marico said.
Deals in grooming products segment
There have been a couple of deals in the grooming products segment in the recent past.
Earlier this year, Wipro Consumer Care, a unit of Wipro Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, invested in Chandigarh-based male grooming startup LetsShave Pvt. Ltd.
In August 2018, Bombay Shaving Company raised an undisclosed amount in its Series A round led by consumer goods major Colgate-Palmolive. The company’s existing investor Fireside Ventures also participated in the round.
In 2017, fast-moving consumer goods major Emami Ltd entered the men’s grooming product space by picking up a 30% stake in The Man Company.
