Kalyan Jewellers buys etailer Candere

Rajesh Kalyanaraman

Thrissur-based Kalyan Jewellers on Wednesday announced the acquisition of online jewellery firm Candere for an undisclosed sum. This is the second deal, in less than 12 months, where a traditional brick-and-mortar jeweller has acquired a jewellery etailer, signalling the shift in consumer buying habits. In May last year, Titan Company Ltd, the jewellery-to-eyewear retailer of the Tata Group, acquired a 62 percent stake in Chennai-based etailer CaratLane for Rs 357 crore.

Backed by private equity major Warburg Pincus, Kalyan Jewellers is first acquiring the equity holding of Singularity Strategic — the family office of Brijesh Chandwani and Subram Kapoor— in Candere. “As part of the transaction, Kalyan Jewellers will complete a phased-wise acquisition of the equity held by founder promoter Rupesh Jain, apart from making a significant investment into the company to drive its next phase of business,” a company statement read. Rupesh Jain would continue in his role as founder CEO, it added.

Founded in 2013, Candere sells jewellery online in India, the US and UK and has a portfolio of over 4,000 designs. Through this acquisition, Kalyan Jewellers, which has a network of 105 retail stores across India and West Asia, will establish a presence in the ecommerce space. It plans to launch some of its sub-brands like Glo, Antara, Anokhi and Nimah on the Candere online store.

“Candere has built a loyal online customer base in India with one of the best repeat rates in the business. Candere’s recent foray into the UK and US markets also helps Kalyan augment its ambition of becoming a global Indian brand,” says Rajesh Kalyanaraman, executive director, Kalyan Jewellers. “Both companies have strong design and manufacturing capabilities and the synergies therein will help strengthen our offering to existing as well as new customers.”

The integrated offline and online offering, adds Kalyanaraman, would provide customers with flexibility and convenience. “We believe that the online jewellery market offers tremendous growth potential and expects it to contribute 5-7 percent of our topline over the next 5 years. The acquisition will also accelerate contribution of our global revenues,” he says.

Kalyan Jewellers had recently raised an additional investment of Rs 500 crore from Warburg Pincus taking the latter’s total investment in the company to Rs 1,700 crore. According to the company, the funds would be used to double its retail network over the next three years.