Private equity firm Advent International on Thursday announced that it has agreed to pick up a significant majority stake in innerwear maker Dixcy Textiles Pvt. Ltd.
Dixcy’s founder and managing director Prem Prakash Sikka will retain a stake in the company and continue as chairman following the completion of the transaction, a press statement said.
The financial details of the deal couldn’t be immediately ascertained.
Investment bank Avendus Capital is serving as the financial adviser to Dixcy while law firm Khaitan & Co is its legal adviser. AZB & Partners is the legal adviser to Advent International.
Dixcy was looking to raise nearly Rs 300 crore as growth capital and had hired Avendus Capital to look for potential investors.
Founded in 1982 by first-generation entrepreneur Sikka, Dixcy Textiles (earlier known as Prem Hosiery) makes innerwear and casual wear. It also makes winterwear under the Higgins brand. Dixcy became a private limited company in 2004.
According to its website, Dixcy produces 5 lakh pieces of clothing a day and distributes them through 1.2 lakh stores across the country. It has also kicked off international expansion by placing its products in stores across the Middle East and Singapore.
Dixcy competes with the likes of Page Industries Ltd, the licensee for the Jockey brand in India; Rupa & Co. Ltd, the owner of MacroMan, Frontline and Euro brands; and Lux Industries Ltd, the owner of the Lux Cozi brand.
Advent International
This transaction is Advent’s fourth investment in India since 2015, following its equity stake purchases in Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, QuEST Global Services and ASK Group.
“The innerwear market in India is expected to grow at double-digit rates over the next five years, driven by increased per capita spending and consumer demand for higher quality products,†said Shweta Jalan, India head for Advent International.
Advent International had raised $13 billion for its latest buyout fund. Over the last 27 years, the firm has invested more than $9 billion across 71 companies in the sector worldwide.
Innerwear market
According to a report by retail consultancy Technopak Advisors, the Indian innerwear market was worth Rs 19,950 crore in 2014 and is estimated to grow at a compounded annual pace of 13% to reach Rs 68,270 crore by 2024.
Though the market has traditionally been unorganised, the organised segment has shown promising growth in both men's and women’s categories of late.
Not many deals have been reported in the men’s innerwear segment although some major retailers, such as Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd and Pepe Jeans, have tested the waters. However, e-tailers, particularly those catering to women’s innerwear, have attracted investors.
Last year, Bangalore-based online lingerie retailer Buttercups Bras Pvt. Ltd raised an undisclosed amount from Snapdeal’s former chief product officer Anand Chandrasekaran as well as existing investors Kanwaljit Singh and Manoj Varghese.
In the lingerie e-tailing segment, Bangalore-based Actoserba Active Wholesale Pvt. Ltd, which owns Zivame, is the most funded player, having raised $52.44 million to date. Some other significantly funded players in this segment include Noida-based Purple Panda Fashions Pvt. Ltd, which owns Clovia, and Mumbai-based MTC Ecom Pvt. Ltd, which owns Pretty Secrets.
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and PE-style investor Nalanda Capital had backed Mumbai-based women innerwear manufacturer Lovable Lingerie Ltd. Sequoia exited its over-four-year-old investment in 2015, almost doubling its investment value.
Hinduja family-owned lingerie firm Gokaldas Intimatewear Pvt Ltd, which sells the Enamor brand, had raised Rs 20 crore from a PE fund managed by India Alternatives Investment Advisors.
