May 7, 2019

Lighthouse announces the closing of its third private equity fund

Mid-market private equity firm Lighthouse on Tuesday announced the closing of its third fund, Lighthouse India Fund III, worth $250 million (Rs 1,750 crore).

In a statement, the company said that including predecessor funds, it now advises and manages cumulative assets of nearly half a billion dollars.

Investors in Fund III include global institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, UK-based development finance institution CDC Group, and German development finance institution DEG. In addition to these, other investors include a slew of global endowments, pension funds and family offices.

In a joint statement issued by the equity firm, Lighthouse Partners stated,

“We thank our existing investors, many of whom have backed our efforts for a decade plus, and we welcome our new investors into the family. Their support will allow us to continue to find and back great entrepreneurs, building strong long-term businesses, encouraging them to dream, dare, scale, and care.”

The firm also said that Fund III will make investments of Rs 50-300 crore in high-growth opportunities. Through this, the firm has already made four investments including leading orthotics brand Tynor, footwear major Aqualite, mattress brand Duroflex, and online beauty retailer Nykaa.

Currently with a team of 15 professionals and operating advisors, Lighthouse was founded in 2006 by Sachin Bhartiya, Sean Sovak and Mukund Krishnaswami.

In 2008, Lighthouse raised its Fund I with a corpus of approximately $100 million. It raised its second in 2014 with a corpus of approximately $135 million.

Over the years, it has backed strong consumer brands including the likes of ethnic snack player Bikaji Foods, food chain WOW! Momo, premium personal care brand Kama Ayurveda, sanitary wear brand Cera Sanitaryware, ethnic lifestyle brand FabIndia, and V2 Retail, among others.

Recently, in December, Lighthouse Advisors, through its Fund III announced an investment of over $35 million to acquire a minority stake in footwear company, Aqualite Industries.

(As published in https://yourstory.com on , May 07 2019. )

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