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Tuesday, 11 January 2011 |
Gitanjali Gems is in talks with two private equity players to raise up to $100 million,
and hopes to close a deal by February. The company, which is currently undergoing restructuring, plans to divest 10 to 12 per cent equity in the restructured entity. Gitanjali sells jewelry under the brands: Gili, Nakshatra, Asmi and D’ damas in India. The company, which has a retail presence in India, US and the Middle East, is eyeing a foray into jewelry retailing in China and plans to acquire jewelry retail firm along with a manufacturing unit there in FY ’12.
Gitanjali also plans to acquire its 6th jewelry brand in Italy and expects to close the deal by the end of the current fiscal. It has already acquired one Italian brand, Valente, and will finish acquiring four DIT brands in January. It expects about $100 million in revenue from these brands in three years. DIT is a unit of Dubai-based jewelry maker Damas International and owns brands such as Stefan Hafner, IO Si, Porrati, Nouvelle Bague, while Valente is owned by Mariella Burani.
The firm is also scouting for buys in India in FY ’12 with a budget of Rs 500 million. Gitanjali has set aside a capex of Rs 250 million for raising capacity in the upcoming fiscal, taking the total capex for the year to Rs 500 million. Gitanjali Gems plans to open 500 more outlets in India by the end of March 2011 and 100 new stores in China within the next three years. Gitanjali hopes its new stores, which will occupy 300,000 sq. ft. of retail space, will help capture some of that demand. The company’s aim is to raise Gitanjali’s market share in India to five per cent of the retail jewelry market, up from the current three per cent. |
