Soch looks for a buyer to sell majority stake

Ethnic wear brand Soch is looking for an investor who will buy a majority of its stake. Once completed, the transaction will likely give a controlling stake to the investor. Usually in the domestic apparel sector most private equity funds pick up smaller stakes. Soch opened in 2007 as a multi-brand retail chain. It is now spread across more than 80 brand stores in the country. Besides running its own brand stores, Soch also retails through shop-in-shops across Shoppers Stop and Central. Next year, Soch is looking at opening 35 to 40 stores and that's not including any shop-in-shops.

The brand has been growing annually at 46 per cent for the last five years and is looking to clock in revenues of Rs 350 crores for 2016-17. Soch is sold on e-commerce portals including Myntra, Jabong and Amazon. Soch's share sale comes at a time when investors have been scouting for companies in the fast-growing domestic women’s wear market, which has been buoyed by rising disposable income among urban women.

Spends on women’s wear in the apparel market are catching up with the share of menswear. This is driven largely by Indian ethnic and fusion wear brands which appeal to young audiences. Fast fashion turnaround based on innovative technology and materials at relatively affordable price has been the key to this growth.