Billionaire Ranjan Pai to invest in beauty company Purplle
Billionaire investor Ranjan Pai is likely to invest in Purplle, an online retailer of beauty and personal care products, by buying JSW Ventures’ shares in the firm for Rs 60-70 crore. This would be the second instance of JSW Ventures offloading shares in Purplle in five months. In May, it sold a partial stake to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), scoring an 18X return on its initial investment.
The previous secondary transaction was done at a valuation of $1.1 billion but the valuation for the current round wasn’t immediately clear. This is also the latest in a series of startup investments by Pai, a seasoned entrepreneur and investor. He recently sold a controlling stake in his chain, Manipal Hospitals, to Singapore’s Temasek in the largest deal ever by a private equity fund in India’s healthcare sector. He also runs the Manipal group of educational institutions.
In May, Purplle raised $40-$50 million. Along with the secondary market transaction with ADIA, Purplle had also raised a small primary component from South Korea’s Paramark Ventures, an existing investor in the company. Purplle said it would use the capital to expand its offline footprint by opening more stores and also strengthen its online presence.
