Lighthouse invests in V2 Retail

Lighthouse, a middle market private equity firm focused on growth investments in India's consumer sector, has invested 760 million Indian Rupee in V2 Retail, one of India's fastest growing, pure play apparel value retailers.

V2 Retail provides a one-stop apparel solution for the whole family and the investment will be used to accelerate the group’s store expansion plans, said the private equity firm.

For the 2017 fiscal year, V2 Retail achieved revenue of approximately 4.7 billion Indian Rupee, representing a compound annual growth rate in excess of 60 percent over the last five years. Currently, the retail group has 44 stores across 13 states in India and has set significant expansion targets of opening 100 stores in the next two to three years.

Ram Chandra Agarwal, chairman and managing director of V2 Retail, said: "We were highly impressed with Lighthouse's track record of investing in and building leading branded, consumer companies, and believe their assistance will be invaluable for us going forward.

“We plan to further penetrate in our core markets, such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, due to large number of high potential Tier II and III cities, which remain significantly underpenetrated in terms of organised retail.”

Sachin Bhartiya, partner at Lighthouse Advisors, added: "We have been witnessing a structural change in the Indian retail landscape over the past few years, and are very excited to partner with V2 Retail.

“We have great confidence in Ram Chandra Agarwal, the pioneer of value retailing in India, and his team, and believe that the next few years will be transformational for the Company.”