Online babycare store FirstCry (BrainBees Solutions Pvt. Ltd) has acquired the franchise division of Mahindra Retail Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, which owns online babycare business BabyOye for Rs 362.1 crore in a cash and stock deal.
“A business transfer agreement has been executed by and between Mahindra Retail Pvt Ltd (MRPL), a subsidiary of the company, Brainbees Solutions (FirstCry) and founder of the company to transfer the franchise division of MRPL (BabyOye) as a going concern on a slump sale basis to FirstCry,”
The Company said: “In terms of the structure of the transaction, Mahindra Retail and FirstCry have consolidated their operations, with Mahindra Retail selling its franchise business to FirstCry, and operating all company stores under a firstcry master franchise agreement”.
“The online babycare additionally raises USD 34 million (approx Rs 226 crore) of new equity capital from the Mahindra Group, PE fund Adveq, Kris Gopalakrishnan and participation from all existing shareholders,”
Mahindra Retail has over 120 stores across the country operating under the ‘babyOye by Mahindra’ brand. “The merged entity will conduct its business under the brand name FirstCry.Com – A FirstCry Mahindra Venture. FirstCry.Com will have a parent base of over 4 million, a footprint of over 300 stores spread across 125 cities,.”
Mahindra Retail had expanded into the online babycare market last year with acquisition of Babyoye, and also rebranded its offline stores from Mom & Me to the online brand. It has over 120 stores that are a combination of large format, high street and mall locations and hospital stores. In January 2016, Mahindra Retail also signed an agreement with well known global kidswear brand Carters.
“We are delighted to partner with a prestigious business house like Mahindra, both as a retail brand and as an investor. The comapny has been at the heart of organising the huge baby and kids market in India. The platform will help scale up the reach of this service and experience faster. Our partnership with the Mahindra Group will bring in synergies that will help us scale and achieve our profitability goal much faster. Together, we will continue to scout for more opportunities for inorganic growth,” Maheshwari said in a statement.