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Tag: Lenskart

  • Lenskart to launch IPO this week, seeking US$7.9b in valuation

    Lenskart to launch IPO this week, seeking US$7.9b in valuation

    Lenskart Solutions, a leading Indian eyewear retailer, is preparing to unveil its Initial Public Offering (IPO) this week. The company is targeting a valuation of approximately 695 billion rupees, which equates to around $7.91 billion.

    Details of the IPO

    Lenskart Solutions has established a price range of 382-402 rupees per share, which translates to around $4.35 to $4.57. As part of the IPO, Lenskart will issue fresh shares amounting to 21.5 billion rupees. Current investors, inclusive of the company’s founders, are also set to sell approximately 128 million shares, as indicated in an updated prospectus.

    The IPO will commence on October 31 and continue until November 4, with anchor investors beginning to submit their bids on October 30.

    Lenskart’s Success Story

    Lenskart Solutions was established in 2010 and has its headquarters in Gurgaon. As of September 10, the company was valued at $6.1 billion. It operates more than 2060 stores throughout India and has more than 650 outlets internationally.

    The main shareholders, often referred to as ‘promoters’, encompass a Mumbai-based private equity firm named Kedaara Capital, Temasek, a state-owned investment company from Singapore, and SoftBank from Japan.

    Future Plans

    In a statement released in July to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Lenskart Solutions announced that the funds procured from the IPO will be utilized to invest in the establishment of new company-owned, company-operated stores nationwide.

    Questions & Answers

    What is the targeted valuation for Lenskart Solutions’ IPO?
    The company is aiming for a valuation of approximately 695 billion rupees or around $7.91 billion.

    Who are the main shareholders of Lenskart Solutions?
    The primary shareholders include a Mumbai-based private equity firm named Kedaara Capital, Singapore’s state investment company, Temasek, and Japan’s SoftBank.

    What will the funds procured from the IPO be used for?
    Lenskart Solutions has stated that the funds will be utilized to invest in the establishment of new company-owned, company-operated stores across India.

  • Lenskart Eyes Expansion With $247.6m IPO; Major Shareholders To Sell Off Shares

    Lenskart Eyes Expansion With $247.6m IPO; Major Shareholders To Sell Off Shares

    India’s leading eyewear retailer, Lenskart, has recently submitted an application for an initial public offering (IPO), aiming to issue fresh shares valued at US$247.6 million as outlined in their draft prospectus.

    Major Shareholders Selling Shares

    The firm’s major shareholders, termed as ‘promoters’, will collectively sell off approximately 132.3 million shares. This group of promoters includes noteworthy investment firms such as Mumbai’s Kedaara Capital, Singapore’s state investment body Temasek, and SoftBank from Japan.

    Management of the IPO

    The IPO will be managed by a team of prominent financial firms. Among them are Morgan Stanley, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital Holdings, and Citi.

    Allocation of Capital Raised

    As per the draft prospectus submitted to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the revenue generated from this new share issuance will be invested in establishing additional company-owned and operated stores nationwide.

    The funds from the IPO will also be allocated towards the enhancement of technology, the improvement of cloud infrastructure, and to cater for various other corporate purposes.

    Closer Look at Lenskart

    Established in 2010, Lenskart holds an impressive valuation of US$6.1 billion as of June 13. However, the company also carries a debt of US$57 million as of March 2024, as per the data provided by Tracxn.

    Questions & Answers

    What is the purpose of Lenskart’s IPO?
    Lenskart’s IPO is aimed at raising funds to invest in new company-owned and operated stores across India, as well as to enhance their technological capabilities and improve their cloud infrastructure.

    Who are the major shareholders, or ‘promoters’ of Lenskart?
    The major shareholders include Mumbai’s Kedaara Capital, Singapore’s state investment company Temasek, and Japan’s SoftBank.

    What is Lenskart’s current valuation and debt?
    Lenskart’s valuation stands at US$6.1 billion as of June 13. However, the company carries a debt amounting to US$57 million as of March 2024.

  • Lenskart builds SE Asia expansion

    Lenskart builds SE Asia expansion

    India-based eyewear retailer Lenskart plans to open stores in Thailand and the Philippines to expand in Southeast Asia.

    “We’re looking at opening 300 to 400 stores in southeast Asia in the next two years. Initially, we go slow, but we like to go deep,” Peyush Bansal, Lenskart cofounder and CEO said.

    “We’ve been in Singapore for the last three years, and we are going to Thailand this year. After a year in Thailand, we’ll go to the Philippines.”

    “There’s a lot to do in Asia now,” said Bansal. “In Singapore, we now have 70 stores. One in three people wear Lenskart glasses. It’s a smaller geography but the impact is bigger.”

    He noted that the brand is considering opening stores in Indonesia and Malaysia.

    In addition, the company is considering inorganic expansion opportunities as part of its regional expansion plans, following its acquisition of a majority stake in Japanese eyewear label Owndays last year.

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  • India’s Lenskart buys Owndays

    India’s Lenskart buys Owndays

    India’s largest eyewear retailer Lenskart is buying an approximately 75% stake in Japanese eyewear chain Owndays.

    Lenskart will acquire all the shares held by a joint venture between an investment company affiliated with LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and a fund affiliated with Mitsui & co.

    The value of the deal is yet unknown.

    Owndays has around 460 stores in 13 countries and regions. Lenskart  has about 1,100 stores in India, Singapore, and other countries.

    “Under the deal terms, Owndays management will retain their stakes in the company. The management structure and store names will remain unchanged,” the report noted.

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  • Neso Brands appoints CEO after $100 million funding round

    Neso Brands appoints CEO after $100 million funding round

    Neso Brands, a subsidiary of eyewear manufacturer Lenskart, has raised $100 million in a seed funding round, which will enable the firm to create a house of brands catering to the global market.

    The company did not divulge the details of the investors involved. However, Lenskart, which owns Singapore-headquarted Neso, has earlier raised large sums in funding from prominent investors such as KKR, SoftBank, Alpha Wave Global and Temasek.

    Founded in 2022, Neso Brands is an eyewear manufacturer and retailer that leverages analytics, tech, and its own supply chain and distribution, to create a large network of co-owned direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands.

    Based out of Singapore, Neso Brands plans to sell its eyewear products to a global market by partnering up with the top entrepreneurs in the industry. It plans to invest in consumer eyewear brands around the world and grow these brands by leveraging synergies across the Lenskart group to accelerate international expansion.

    Neso Brands will utilise e-commerce and technologies such as AR and AI for eyewear brands as a strategy to capture global market share. Neso Brands will house these brands and enable a quicker global rollout by giving the brands access to shared resources – particularly technology, supply chain, distribution, capital and best practices.

    Neso Brands also said Bjorn Bergstrom has joined the founding team as the CEO.

    Bergstrom is an experienced investor and D2C operator, having most recently served as chief growth officer and interim chief product & technology officer for the global fashion brand NA-KD. Bergstrom’s experience prior to that includes working as a venture capital investor focusing on early-stage growth startups, management consulting as well as operational roles at consumer startups.

    “Today, there is a perfect storm in the eyewear industry that makes it ripe for disruption. Consumers have increasingly high demands when it comes to customer experience, branding, and choice, but incumbent players have been unable to keep up. By investing in the most promising new brands in the industry and leveraging centralised resources across technology, manufacturing and distribution, Neso Brands will be uniquely positioned to scale the eyewear brands of the future,” Bergstrom, CEO of Neso Brands, said in a statement.

    “With this investment in Neso Brands, we want to accelerate our mission of transforming the way people see and experience the world. Consumers want better and better every day and while people’s quality of life has been uplifted through all other lifestyle products such as shoes, apparel and wearables, eyewear products are the same old with no innovation, just more expensive. And Neso is our initiative to partner with founders globally to help create eyewear brands of the future,” Peyush Bansal, CEO of Lenskart, said.

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  • India’s Lenskart wins US$275 million in Softbank funding

    India’s Lenskart wins US$275 million in Softbank funding

    Indian omni-channel eyewear retailer Lenskart has raised an investment of US$275 million from SoftBank Vision Fund.

    Several of the firm’s existing investors sold their stake in the business during the latest Series-G financing round. The new funding has lifted the firm’s total investments to date to $456 million, leaving Lenskart with a valuation of more than $1.5 billion.

    The firm currently sells via more than 500 outlets throughout more than 100 Indian cities. The firm started as an online-only business, with 60 per cent of current sales still taking place online.

    “We are thrilled to have SoftBank Vision Fund with us in our journey,” said Lenskart founder and CEO Peyush Bansal in an interview with TechCrunch. “Their understanding of consumer and technology will help us build the next edition of Lenskart.”

    The firm’s latest inflow of capital will be used to improve its IT infrastructure and supply chain.

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