Myntra In Advanced Talks to buy 5% stake in Wildcraft

Partnered with homebased e-commerce giant Flipkart, online fashion retailer Myntra, is in the process of taking up 5% minority stake in outdoor and sportswear company Wildcraft.

This 10-year-long partnership has been forged as part of Myntra’s Brand Accelerator programme launched last year, which previously on boarded fashion brands like Chemistry and AKS.

A person familiar with the deal said, “As part of this investment deal, Wildcraft products will exclusively be available online on all of Flipkart Group’s marketplaces. “They will also explore omnichannel strategies where there could be an inventory integration similar to what Myntra has done with brands like Mango.”

A Wildcraft spokesperson said they constantly evaluate options to raise funds and “there is nothing concrete to share at this point of time.”

Founded almost two decades ago by Gaurav Dublish, Siddharth Sood and Dinesh KS, Wildcraft primarily sells rucksacks, shoes, jackets, sleeping bags, tents and hiking accessories. It has manufacturing plants in Bengaluru and Himachal Pradesh and over 160 stores across the country.

The Bengaluru-based company recorded sales worth Rs 400 crore in fiscal year 2016-17 and aims to clock Rs 550-600 crore in sales in FY18, cofounder Dublish had said last year, adding, “We have concrete plans of taking our business to Rs 1,000 crore in retail sales by FY 2019-20.” The company raised close to Rs 70 crore in 2013 from Sequoia Capital, which valued Wildcraft at about Rs 350 crore for a 20% stake.

The deal with Wildcraft is perceived as the Flipkart’s shift to sell high-margin products and Wildcraft partnership fits right into that strategy.

Sportswear and outdoor accessories are high-margin categories for retailers across the country at 30-40%, as per industry estimates.

An analyst wishing anonymity said, “This partnership will benefit Wildcraft more since the company is much smaller in size when compared to Flipkart. It (Wildcraft) will now not only have access to funds, but will also become a preferred seller on Flipkart’s various marketplaces.”