Luxury Beauty Chain Sephora Ties Up With Reliance Retail Ventures

Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Limited will take over the current India operations of Sephora's 26 stores across 13 cities from Arvind Fashions

Sephora, the world’s leading omni-channel prestige beauty retailer, announced a partnership with Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) to advance their shared ambition to develop and define the future of prestige beauty retail in India. The partnership gives RRVL exclusive rights to build and enhance Sephora’s presence in India across channels.

Since its first foray into India in 2012, Sephora has leveraged its unique brand and product curation capabilities and strong point of view on beauty and experiential retail to cater to the beauty needs of India’s vast consumer base.

“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,” Alia Gogi, Asia President, SEPHORA. “We are equally grateful to Arvind for their partnership over the past eight years to get us positioned for the next stage of growth.”

"We are excited and proud to partner with Sephora, a global leader in beauty. 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 tail wind to this partnership. Importantly this partnership will help us straddle across the value chain in beauty and personal care segment,” said V Subramaniam, Director, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited.

As part of the partnership with Sephora, Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Limited will take over the current India operations of Sephora's 26 stores across 13 cities from Arvind Fashions Limited, as it sets in motion a plan to expand Sephora's presence in the country. During this period of transition, the stores and website will be operating business as usual. Reliance Beauty & Personal Care Limited operates the beauty business for RRVL and this partnership will boost its portfolio of offerings.

The Indian beauty and personal care market pegged at USD 17 bn and set to grow at a 11% CAGR, is still believed to be in its infancy; positioning India as one of the largest untapped consumer markets globally. Not only is RRVL 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.

ABOUT SEPHORA:

Sephora is the world’s leading global prestige beauty retail brand. With 46,000 passionate employees operating in 35 markets, Sephora connects customers and beauty brands within the world’s most trusted and dynamic beauty community. We serve a highly engaged community of hundreds of millions of beauty followers across our global omnichannel network of more than 2700 stores and iconic flagships, and our e-commerce and digital platforms, offering personalized and immersive seamless experiences across every touchpoint. With our curation of close to 300 brands and our own label, Sephora Collection, we offer the most unique and diverse range of prestige beauty products, tailored to our customers’ needs from fragrance to make-up, haircare, skincare and beyond, as we constantly reimagine the world of prestige beauty.

Since our inception in 1969 in Limoges, France, and as part of the LVMH Group since 1997, we have been disrupting the prestige beauty retail industry. Today, we continue to break with convention to drive our mission to expand the way the world sees beauty.

RRVL, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, operates an integrated omni-channel network of over 18,650 stores and digital commerce platforms across Grocery, Consumer Electronics, Fashion & Lifestyle and Pharma consumption baskets and has partnered with over 3 million merchants through its New Commerce initiative. Reliance Retail Limited, a subsidiary of RRVL, is the only Indian retailer in the global Top 100 and amongst the fastest growing retailers globally as per Deloitte's Global Powers of Retailing 2023.

RRVL reported a consolidated turnover of ₹ 260,364 crore ($ 31.7 billion) and net profit of ₹ 9,181 crore ($ 1.1 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2023.

US-based KKR Increases Stake in Reliance Retail By Investing Additional ₹2,069.50 Cr

Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (“RRVL”) announced today that global investment firm KKR & Co Inc ("KKR"), through an affiliate, will invest ₹ 2,069.50 crore ( ~ approx $250 million) into RRVL, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited. This investment values RRVL at a pre-money equity value of ₹ 8.361 lakh crore, which makes it among the top four companies by equity value in the country.

This comes within weeks after RRVL raised funds amounting ₹ 8,278 crore (approx. US $1 billion) from Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).

KKR’s follow-on investment will translate into an additional equity stake of 0.25% in RRVL on a fully-diluted basis.

This, combined with its stake from its investment of ₹ 5,550 crore in RRVL in 2020, will take its total equity stake in RRVL to 1.42% on a fully-diluted basis. In 2020, RRVL raised an aggregate amount of ₹ 47,265 (US $5.71 billion) from various global investors, at a pre-money equity value of ₹ 4.21 lakh crore ($52 billion).

RRVL, through its subsidiaries and associates, operates India's largest, fastest growing, and most profitable retail business serving 267 million loyalty customers with an integrated omnichannel network of over 18,500 stores and digital commerce platforms across grocery, consumer electronics, fashion & lifestyle, and pharma consumption baskets.

RRVL’s vision is to galvanize the Indian retail sector through an inclusive strategy serving millions of customers, empowering micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and working closely with global and domestic companies as a preferred partner, to deliver immense benefits to Indian society, while protecting and generating employment for millions of Indians. RRVL, through its New Commerce business, has digitized more than 3 million small and unorganised merchants. This will enable these merchants to use technology tools and an efficient supply chain infrastructure to deliver a superior value proposition to their own customers.

Founded in 1976, KKR has approximately $519 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of June 30, 2023. KKR has a long history of building leading global enterprises that are at the forefront of technology and digital transformation, including in the areas of consumer retail and eCommerce, as well as a track record of supporting leading corporations in India.

KKR’s follow-on investment in RRVL furthers its relationship with Reliance Industries Limited. In addition to its investment in RRVL, KKR is also an investor in Jio Platforms Limited, a leading digital services platform and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited.

Reliance is India’s largest private sector company, with a consolidated revenue of INR 9,74,864 crore (US$118.6 billion), cash profit INR 1,25,951 crore (US$ 15.3 billion) and net profit of INR 73,670 crore (US$9.0 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2023. Reliance’s activities span hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, advanced materials and composites, renewables (solar and hydrogen), retail and digital services.

Currently ranking 88th, Reliance is the largest private sector company from India to feature in Fortune’s Global 500 list of “World’s Largest Companies” for 2023. The company stands 45th in the Forbes Global 2000 rankings of “World’s Largest Public Companies” for 2023 - top-most among Indian companies. Reliance has been ranked among the world's 20 best companies to work with, highest amongst Indian companies in Forbes’ World's Best Employers for 2022.

Qatar's Sovereign Fund QIA Invests $1 Bn in Reliance Retail at $100 Bn Valuation

Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), announced on Wednesday that an investment of ₹ 8,278 crore (approx. $1bln) into Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited . QIA is making this investment for a minority equity stake of 0.99% in RRVL on a fully-diluted basis.

With this fresh investment from QIA, RRVL values at a pre-money equity value of $100 billion or Rs 8.27 lakh Crore. QIA’s investment comes as the Qatari fund seeks to further invest in India’s fast-growing economy. 

QIA said that investment in Reliance Retail is demonstration of its diversified approach to global investment and confidence in India’s fast-growing economy. India’s growth trajectory and national focus on innovation aligns with QIA’s investment approach to support companies in India with high-growth potential.

Recent investments from QIA in India have included companies in the technology, media and telecoms sector, retail sector, and in green energy investments.

The previous fundraise round by RRVL in 2020 from various global investors of an aggregate amount of ₹ 47,265 crore was done at a pre-money equity value of ₹ 4.21 lakh crore.

In November 2020, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) invested ₹9,555 crore for a little over 2% in RRVL.

To date, Reliance Retail has raised about $7.4 billion in total 7 rounds from Qatar and Saudi's sovereign wealth funds, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Singapore's GIC, TPG, General Atlantic, Mubadala and Silver Lake among others.

Ms Isha Mukesh Ambani, Director, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, said, “We are delighted to welcome QIA as an investor in the Reliance Retail Ventures Limited. We look forward to benefitting from QIA’s global experience and strong track record of value creation as we further develop Reliance Retail Ventures Limited into a world class institution, driving transformation of the Indian retail sector. The investment by QIA is a strong endorsement of a positive outlook towards Indian economy and Reliance’s retail business model, strategy and execution capabilities."

Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, CEO, QIA, said, “QIA is committed to supporting innovative companies with high-growth potential in India’s fast growing retail market. We are looking forward to Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, with its strong vision and impressive growth trajectory, joining our growing and diverse portfolio of investments in India.”

RRVL, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, operates an integrated omni-channel network of over 18,500 stores and digital commerce platforms across Grocery, Consumer Electronics, Fashion & Lifestyle and Pharma consumption baskets and has partnered with over 3 million merchants through its New Commerce initiative. Reliance Retail Limited, a subsidiary of RRVL, is the only Indian retailer in the global Top 100 and amongst the fastest growing retailers globally as per Deloitte's Global Powers of Retailing 2023.

Reliance Retail Acquires ‘amanté ’ Business of MAS Holdings

MAS Holdings has announced that Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (“RRVL”), has acquired 100% of the retail lingerie businesses under the ‘amante’ umbrella brand from MAS Brands, a wholly owned subsidiary of MAS Holdings, Sri Lanka.

The ‘amanté business’, which was established by MAS in 2007/8, engages in the retail and wholesale distribution of premium lingerie brands ‘amanté’, ‘Ultimo’ and ‘every dé by amanté’. The products are sold through its own stores and multi-brand outlets, as well as through its e-commerce channels across India and Sri Lanka.

The acquisition of the ‘amante’ business, by RRVL, India’s largest retailer, is another step in its journey of offering superior design led products and compelling value proposition for customers. RRVL will continue to collaborate and partner with MAS to leverage its design-to-delivery capabilities in sustainable manufacturing and product innovation.

Ms. Isha Ambani, Director, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, said, “At Reliance, we pride ourselves in offering the best and enhancing choices to our customers. We are proud to add the high quality, design-led fashion and lifestyle brand ‘amante’ to our portfolio. MAS is a well-recognized product innovator and manufacturer for some of the iconic global brands in this segment - the partnership and collaboration we build together with them will offer Indian customers world class product quality and greater choices in this segment.”

“The acquisition by Reliance ensured that ‘amanté’ would benefit from Reliance’s scale and retail expertise, and that the brand we created and our employees in India and Sri Lanka will continue to benefit from being a part of a well-established retail company” stated Mahesh Amalean, Chairman MAS Holdings. “This was a business MAS built from the ground up, leveraging on years of expertise in the lingerie business, so we are excited to see it transition to new shareholders and a parent organisation that, without doubt, will enable the brand and the company to thrive” added MAS Co-Founder Ajay Amalean, who was directly responsible for overseeing the ‘amanté’ business from its inception.

“The teams at MAS Brands are excited at the new opportunities and prospects that this acquisition brings about and are anticipating the strategic advantages and new learning that will come from working as part of a retail giant such as Reliance” said Vivek Mehta, the CEO of MAS Brands India.

About Reliance Retail Ventures Limited:

RRVL is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited and holding company of all the retail companies under the RIL Group. RRVL reported a consolidated turnover of ₹157,629 crore ($ 21.6 billion) and net profit of ₹5,481 crore ($ 750 million) for the year ended March 31, 2021.

RRVL is the largest and the most profitable retailer in India with the widest reach. It has been listed among the fastest growing retailers in the world in the Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailing 2021 index. It is ranked 53rd in the list of Top Global Retailers and is the only Indian Retailer to feature in the Top 100.

About MAS Group

MAS Holdings manages a portfolio of businesses with a revenue of USD 2 billion and is one of the world’s most recognized design to delivery solution providers in the realm of apparel and textile manufacturing, with over 30 years in operation. It is the largest apparel and textile manufacturer in South Asia. The organization is head quartered in Sri Lanka with 52 manufacturing facilities placed across 16 countries, design locations placed in key style centers across the globe and over 100,000 people involved in its operation. The seamlessly integrated supply chain and the strategically placed design houses gives MAS the knowledge, the means, and the speed to deliver what is demanded by the ever-changing industry. MAS Holdings owns and manages a diverse portfolio of businesses across wearable technology, Femtech, medical apparel, start-ups, and fabric parks worldwide.

Visit www.masholdings.com for more information.