Kalyan Jewellers to augment online presence with investment in Candere

Thrissur, April 26, 2017: Kalyan Jewellers, India’s most trusted and leading jewellery brand today announced the acquisition of online jewellery firm Candere (www.candere.com). The acquisition will augment Kalyan Jewellers presence in the growing online jewellery segment in India. Kalyan Jewellers will acquire the equity held by Singularity Strategic, the family office of Brijesh Chandwani and Subram Kapoor. As part of the transaction Kalyan Jewellers will complete a phase 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. This is Kalyan Jeweller's first strategic move of its kind as the company continues to pursue aggressive growth plans, both organically and inorganically.

Established in 2013, Candere (www.candere.com) sells jewellery online in India, USA and UK. It has a portfolio of over 4,000 designs including a strong offering in the high growth diamond jewellery segment. This transaction will help Kalyan establish a strong presence in the ecommerce segment to complement its vast physical retail presence. Following the acquisition, Candere will be “powered by Kalyan Jewellers” as it continues to build resonance with existing and potential online jewellery shoppers. Kalyan Jewellers will significantly boost Candere’s customer offerings by virtue of its depth of merchandise, which caters to different market segments and customer tastes. Post Investment, Kalyan plans to launch some of its established and well received sub-brands like Glo, Antara, Anokhi, Nimah, through the Candere online store. Through this investment, Kalyan Jewellers will also be able to expand Candere's geography into the growing West Asian market including UAE, Kuwait and Qatar thus augmenting Candere's existing coverage.

Kalyan Jewellers will leverage its vast network of 105 showrooms and distributed supply chain across India and West Asia to enhance Candere's fulfillment layer and work towards creating a robust online-offline hybrid customer experience. Kalyan had recently raised growth capital of Rs. 500 crore from global private equity major Warburg Pincus taking the latter’s total investment to Rs. 1,700 crore in the company. The funds will be used to double Kalyan's retail presence over the next three years from the present base of showrooms.

Commenting on the acquisition, Rajesh Kalyanaraman, Executive Director, Kalyan Jewellers said, “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 UK and USA markets also helps Kalyan augment its ambition of becoming a global Indian brand. 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 will provide customers more flexibility and convenience while enhancing their shopping experience. We believe that the online jewellery market offers tremendous growth potential and expect it to contribute 5-7% of our topline over the next 5 years. The acquisition will also accelerate contribution of our global revenues.’’

Candere was co-founded by Rupesh Jain and provides a wide range of jewellery crafted in gold, diamond and precious stones. Rupesh Jain will continue in his role as founder CEO. Commenting on the development, Rupesh Jain said, “Kalyan is a formidable jewellery brand and Candere will be able to scale up rapidly by using Kalyan’s strong supply chain network and physical presence. The integration will also provide up selling and cross-selling opportunities and bolster revenues.’’