Reliance Beauty buys Sephora India rights from Arvind Fashions for Rs 99 cr

Reliance Beauty & Personal Care has signed a share purchase agreement with Arvind Fashions to buy Arvind Beauty Brands Retail for Rs 99.02 crore. 

Through this buyout, Reliance Beauty & Personal Care (a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures) gets rights to LVMH’s Sephora, a global omni-channel beauty retailer.

The buyout gives Reliance Retail Ventures exclusive rights to build and enhance Sephora’s presence in India across channels.

“The transaction has been done at an enterprise value of Rs 216 crore towards sale of the entire equity stake and repayment of loans,” Arvind Fashions said in a stock exchange filing. 

The filing also said that net worth of Arvind Beauty Brands Retail in FY23 was Rs 10.6 crore, which accounted for 1 per cent of the consolidated net worth of Arvind Fashions. 

Reliance Beauty & Personal Care will take over the current India operations of Sephora's 26 stores across 13 cities from Arvind Fashions and will also expand the beauty retail chain’s presence across the country. The US-based beauty firm had first entered India in 2012. 

Reliance Beauty & Personal Care operates the beauty business for Reliance Retail Ventures. This partnership will boost its portfolio of offerings, it said in its release. 

“We are tremendously excited to partner with the largest retail group in India to step-change our business.

Rising affluence, increasing urbanisation and the proliferation of social media have driven greater awareness of self care and beauty, unlocking major opportunities for prestige beauty. It is an opportune time for us to invest in expanding our presence, and bring new, exciting, and exclusive brands to delight our growing community of beauty enthusiasts,” said Alia Gogi, Asia president, Sephora.

“We are equally grateful to Arvind for its partnership over the past eight years to get us positioned for the next stage of growth,” she added.

“The burgeoning Indian beauty market is being propelled by a new generation of customers with a strong desire to express their individuality, rising aesthetic refinement and a growing number of women in the young workforce of India. The Indian consumerism journey is at a tipping point, providing the perfect tailwind to this partnership. Importantly, this partnership will help us straddle across the value chain in the beauty and personal care segment,” said V Subramaniam, director, Reliance Retail Ventures. 

Reliance Retail Ventures has pegged the Indian beauty and personal care market at $17 billion and is set to grow at an 11 per cent CAGR. This will position India as one of the largest untapped consumer markets globally it said.

“Not only is Reliance Retail the largest retailer in India and one of the fastest growing globally, it also uniquely combines deep consumer insights with unparalleled customer access, both offline and digitally,” the company said in its release.