Kalyan Jewellers Gets Rs 1200 Crore Investment From Warburg

Kerala based Jewellery group Kalyan Jewellers received Rs 1200 crore investment from the India arm of US PE major Warburg Pincus.

According to T S Kalyanaraman, Chairman and Managing Director of Kalyan Jewelleries, this is the largest PE investment into Kerala so far.

Vishal Mahadevia, Managing Director and Co-Head (India) at Warburg Pincus, said, "The PE firm's investment in Kalyan Jewellers is the largest PE investment into the jewellery segment in India, and is an acknowledgment of the company's highly-talented team and its pioneering role within the sector."

TS Kalyanaraman, CMD, Kalyan Jewellers.

T S Kalyanaraman, Chairman and Managing Director of Kalyan JewelleriesThe jeweller will use the proceeds from the deal to fund its retail and manufacturing expansion plans. T S Kalyanaraman said, "The firm would open 28 stores - including 12 in overseas. Sixteen stores will come up before December 2014 and the remaining by another six months."

Kalyan Jewellers plans to scale up its global presence in West Asia by foraying into Kuwait and Qatar markets and in south-east Asia by launching its footprints in Singapore and Malaysia. Currently, the company has six exclusive outlets in the United Arab Emirates.

The retail expansion is expected to cost Rs 1,000-

1,200 crore. The jeweller is also planning to invest Rs 300-400 crore in enhancing its manufacturing capacity. The investment manufacturing will be funded through internal resources.

Founded in 1993 and headquartered at Thrissur in Kerala, Kalyan Jewellers is the part of 100-year-old Kalyan Group, which started out with textile manufacturing and retailing.