US PE firm TA invests US$ 140m in W fashion brand owner

New Delhi: City-based TCNS Clothing Company, owner of brands such as W, Aurelia and Wishful, has raised $140 million from TA Associates, a US-based private equity firm, by selling a stake of around 40%. The move has led to the exit of Matrix Partners, which held 15-20% stake in the company.

"The investment by TA is providing some liquidity for other stakeholders, including management, who are rolling over the majority portion of their stake," said Anant Daga, CEO of TCNS.

TCNS, with sales of around $120 million in 2015-16, will look to add 700 stores and triple its revenue in five years, said Daga. The company operates 300 stores at present, including some in markets such as Sri Lanka and Mauritius.

The domestic women's apparel market is expected to touch $20 billion in 2020, up from $13 billion in 2015, at a CAGR of 10%, according to Avendus Capital. The branded part of the market, around 17% in 2015, is predicted to exceed 38% over the next 10 years.

TA Associates has raised $24 billion in capital and has invested in around 460 companies around the world, including homegrown mobile handset maker Micromax, pathology lab Dr Lal PathLabs and telecom firm Idea Cellular, which it exited in 2011.

Naveen Wadhera, a MD at TA Associates and co-head of Asia, will join the TCNS board of directors along with Naresh Patwari, a director at TA Associates' Mumbai office. "The women's ethnic apparel market in India is largely unorganized and is undergoing a shift towards organized and branded. As a leader in branded women's apparel, TCNS Clothing is driving this shift and providing the Indian consumer with a differentiated product and value proposition across its multiple apparel brands," said Patwari.

TCNS is run by 66-year-old Onkar Singh Pasricha, founder and chairman. He and his younger brother Arvinder Singh Pasricha opened the first 'W' store in the capital's Lajpat Nagar market in 2002.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.