Homegrown FMCG company, Emami Ltd, has picked up a little over 12 per cent additional stake in Helios Lifestyle-owned male grooming start-up, The Man Company, for an all-cash deal of Rs 50 crore.
Emami now owns 45.96 per cent in The Man Company, thereby making it the largest shareholder in the 6-year-old male-grooming start-up, where Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana also has a stake and continues to be its brand ambassador.
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The company previously picked up a 33.09 per cent equity stake in two tranches - one in December 2017 and the latter in February 2019.
The founders of The Man Company’s - Hitesh Dhingra, Bhisham Bharti’s and Parvesh Kumar - collectively own around 36-37 per cent. Source says nearly 50,000 equity shares at Rs 9600 (approx) have been issued to Emami, which already has a board berth in Helios Lifestyle.
This investment aligns with the company’s strategy of leveraging emerging online opportunities brought about by rapid digitization. With this investment, Emami has further strengthened its position as the largest shareholder of The Man Company, it said in a release adding that the start-up witnessed a five times jump in monthly revenues since the December 2017 investment.
The Man Company, offers a head-to-toe range of premium men’s grooming products across categories like bath & body, beard grooming, shaving and perfumes. It has a presence across e-commerce channels, modern trade stores and premium outlets.
According to Harsha V Agarwal, Director, Emami, the brand’s has witnessed growth despite the “unprecedented challenges” over the last 18 months.
“The investment helps to accelerate our journey towards having a future ready male grooming portfolio and building an omni-channel premium brand particularly in the online space and lifestyle stores. This (investment) is also in line with our emerging focus on strategic investments in start-ups to incubate new engines of growth.”
So far, Marico, after being an early-stage investor, successfully acquired a male-grooming company, Beardo. Sources say Emami also has the option of hiking stake or go for an all-out acquisition of The Man Company.