According to sources who spoke to Moneycontrol, billionaire investor Ranjan Pai is set to invest in Purplle, an online retailer of cosmetics and personal care items, by purchasing JSW Ventures’ shares in the company for between Rs 60 and Rs 70 crore.
This would be JSW Ventures’ second sale of Purplle stock in the previous five months. It earned an 18X return on its initial investment in May when it sold a portion of the company to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
2.8 percent of the beauty unicorn was owned by JSW as of July, according to Tracxn, a company that provides private markets data.
Purplle and Pai did not respond to Moneycontrol’s emails requesting information on the round, while JSW Ventures declined to comment for the article.
The previous secondary deal was completed at a valuation of $1.1 billion, but it wasn’t immediately apparent what that would be for the current round.
Pai, a seasoned investor and entrepreneur, has already invested in a number of startups. In the largest transaction ever made by a private equity fund in India’s healthcare industry, he just sold Temasek in Singapore a controlling share in his chain of hospitals, Manipal Hospitals. He oversees the Manipal group of academic institutions as well.
Pai has recently started investing actively in startups, purchasing interests in companies including edtech player Byju’s, children’s merchandise retailer FirstCry, and jewellery player BlueStone, among others.
Pai purchased a stake in the Mumbai-based business from JSW Ventures for Rs 60–70 crore in a secondary market transaction.
Purplle raised $40–$50 million in May. Purplle had raised a tiny primary component from South Korea’s Paramark Ventures, an existing investor in the business, in addition to the secondary market deal with ADIA.
Purplle stated that it will utilise the money to boost its online reputation as well as create more outlets to increase its offline footprint.
The choice was made at a time when many online-only firms are choosing the omnichannel approach in an effort to diversify their income streams, reduce their customer acquisition costs (CACs), and maintain growth that has slowed after experiencing a sharp acceleration during Covid.
Purplle, a beauty and personal care e-commerce platform created by Manish Taneja and Rahul Dash, competes with sites like the BSE-listed Nykaa, Walmart’s Myntra, and Flipkart, among others.
Purplle, which values the business at $1.1 billion, has secured about $450 million from Premji Invest, Blume Ventures, Kedaara Capital, a local private equity firm, Goldman Sachs, and other investors to compete with the giants.
