Lighthouse invests Rs 250 crores in Aqualite, one of India's leading footwear brands

Lighthouse India Fund III Limited, an affiliate of Lighthouse Advisors, India's leading, consumer-focused private equity manager, is investing over Rs 250 crore to acquire a minority stake in Aqualite Industries, one of India's leading footwear companies.

Founded more than three decades ago, Aqualite offers more than 6,500 SKUs in hawai, non-hawai and shoe product categories. The products are sold under several sub-brands, under the umbrella of ‘Aqualite’. It has a pan-India distribution network of 35,000 retailers, with a significant presence in the north and east India.

Davinder Gupta, Founder, Aqualite Industries, said, "We are very excited to partner with Lighthouse, given their impressive track record of investments in over twenty-five brands. We look forward to their support and guidance for our next leg of growth. We plan to utilize the capital for marketing, capacity expansion and growth plans."

Sachin Bhartiya, Partner at Lighthouse, added, "We strongly believe in the growth story of footwear Industry in India with the current under-penetration (per capita spend of only 1.8 pairs p.a. vs 3.1 in China) and consumer preference shift towards branded wear. Aqualite has achieved scale in footwear Industry, on back of product quality and relationship with the channel partners. We are very excited by the growth opportunity ahead of the Company."

Aqualite marks the fourth investment for Lighthouse in the current year. Last month, the fund invested Rs 160 cr in Duroflex, a leading mattress brand in south India. In September, it made an investment of Rs 113 cr in Nykaa, India’s premier beauty retailer, while in June, it invested Rs 83 cr in Tynor Orthotics, a leading orthotic soft goods brand.