Nobel Hygiene, a manufacturer of disposable hygiene products, has raised around Rs 450-Rs 500 crores from investors led by healthcare-focused private equity fund Quadria Capital. Quadria will own a significant minority stake in the company.
Sixth Sense Ventures, a domestic consumer-centric venture fund, will invest alongside Quadria, a senior company executive said. The deal is a mix of primary and secondary capital where existing angel and PE investors including CLSA Capital Partners, Access India fund, and its co-investors will exit. In a separate announcement, Access PE said it had completely exited Nobel Hygiene.
Access PE had invested Rs 37 crore in 2013 for a 29% stake. It made a partial exit in 2015 when it sold 10.3% to CLSA. It has now sold the remaining stake to Quadria for Rs 191 crore, the fund said, clocking a more than 4x return on its initial investment.
Over two decades, Nobel Hygiene has built a business that has cornered a sizeable share of the disposable hygiene market in India.
Founded by Kamal Kumar Johari, the company today has over 50% market share in the adult disposable hygiene space. It has expanded its portfolio to also cater to baby and feminine hygiene products. The company makes the Friends brand adult diapers, Teddyy brand of baby diapers, and sanitary pads for women.
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“We have seen healthy traction during the pandemic…Our bottom line is healthy, and the company continues to be profitable,” Johari told ET. “We will look at achieving around Rs 1,000 crore in revenues by FY23.”
The company bought Godrej Consumer’s baby diaper brand Snuggy in 2019. The Indian diaper market is expected to grow faster in the coming decade with an aging population and increased life expectancy giving the industry a fillip.
Nobel Hygiene has done a tremendous job in building a platform that has been at the forefront of providing reliable, high quality, and affordable disposable hygiene products over the last 20 years. Quadria is very excited to partner with Nobel Hygiene in its journey of increasing the accessibility of disposable hygiene products across the country”, said Amit Varma, managing partner, and co-founder, Quadria Capital.
The adult diaper industry in India is pegged at around Rs 500-Rs 600 crores while the baby diapers industry is said to be around Rs 6,000 crore and is growing at a 25% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over the last five years.
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