Catterton plans to raise Rs 4,000-Cr India fund

In what could be the first instance of a global private equity fund launching an India investment vehicle, L Catterton - the consumer focused private equity firm - is in the process of raising a rupee fund, according to sources.

The firm, backed by French luxury fashion house LVMH, plans to raise ₹4,000 crore under Category-II AIF guidelines.

According to sources, L Catterton has made an application to market regulator Sebi to register the India-focused vehicle it announced in March 2024 as a joint venture with former HUL CEO Sanjiv Mehta.

It will invest in India alongside its next pan-Asia dollar fund on a pro-rata basis.

L Catterton will tap investors such as banks, insurance companies, pension funds, family offices, and high net-worth individuals for deploying in India across 7-9 deals.

The vehicle will be managed by the firm's executive chairman of India Sanjiv Mehta as well as partner and head of India, Anjana Sasidharan (ex-Sequoia), as well as the rest of the current L Catterton Asia leadership team helmed by managing partner Scott Chen (ex-TPG) which has been in place since 2019, said sources. The fund, with a focus on consumer sector, will consider both majority and minority investments.

When contacted, L Catterton declined to comment.

In March, L Catterton, which manages around $35 billion of equity capital, had launched a new India consumer-focused JV partnership with Mehta, who was the president of Unilever South Asia as well as chairman/CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever. During his tenure at HUL, Mehta oversaw market-leading products and services which were consumed by over 90% of Indian households.

Around 20 of the brands he oversaw achieved a turnover of ₹10 billion per year as he helped build the company's network in India to span more than 1,300 suppliers and around 9 million retailers. The current team of L Catterton has deployed over $1 billion (including co-investments) across 19 companies in Asia - including three in India - that have been held for 2.7 years on average, and already recorded a 3.1x realized gross return and 1.8x unrealized gross return.