Mumbai, NFAPost: Nobel Hygiene, India’s largest private manufacturer of disposable hygiene products, announced the acquisition of significant minority stake by Quadria Capital, Asia’s leading healthcare-focused private equity firm.
As part of the transaction, the company has also raised fresh capital. PE investors CLSA Capital Partners and Access India fund and its co-investors have exited their investment. Quadria Capital now becomes the largest minority shareholder, adding a consumer healthcare focused company into its portfolio.
Sixth Sense Ventures, India’s first domestic consumer-centric venture fund, also bought shares in an independent parallel transaction from other angel investors.
Nobel Hygiene has demonstrated a two-decade track record of growth and being at the forefront of the efforts to build the disposable hygiene market in India.
Promoted by Kamal Kumar Johari, with a view to provide Indian customers with global quality hygiene products customised according to Indian body type, Nobel Hygiene was India’s first maker of adult diapers and today has over [50%] market share in the adult disposable hygiene space.
In the last two decades, the company has expanded its portfolio to also cater to baby and feminine hygiene products. With strong technical understanding and continuous innovation, Nobel has been able to successfully grow over five-fold in the last five years maintaining a 35% CAGR and closed FY 21 with a revenue of close to INR 600 crores.
The company is confident of maintaining the same growth trajectory and will continue to maintain its market leader position.
Nobel Hygiene Managing Director and CEO Kamal Johari said the company is delighted to begin this new phase in Nobel’s journey.
“While the funds come just in time to help us further accelerate our growth plan, we continue to grow on the strength of our own P&L with minimal primary money. With the per capita income of Indians climbing towards $3000, we expect a substantial jump in discretionary spends by Indians, which will result in substantial growth in the hygiene market also,” said Kamal Johari.
With its current expansion in Halol (Gujarat), in conjunction with a slew of hires made in the leadership team, Kamal Johari said Nobel Hygiene is rightly placed to take advantage of this market expansion.
Quadria Capital Managing Partner and Co-founder Amit Varma said India significantly lags behind its peers in the usage and adoption of personal and disposable hygiene products, a stark difference that was further accentuated with the devastating impact of the pandemic.
“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.
Sixth Sense Ventures Founder & CEO Nikhil Vora Nobel fits perfectly well into the Sixth Sense thesis of betting on first-generation founders, pioneering products for the new age consumer, within the $860m+ diaper segment.
“The Indian diaper industry offers a strong potential with penetration in low single digit and the product promising frequency and a long consumer lifecycle (large and sticky category). Nobel has maintained its dominance in the adult diaper segment (~50% market share for ‘Friends’), and with domestic brands gaining preference, we believe this leadership will be further strengthened,” said Nikhil Vora
Within the baby diaper segment, Nikhil Vora said Sixth Sense Venture finds strong potential for Nobel’s brands given the access to distribution. “We see Nobel as a perfect opportunity to play the hygiene segment in India. I am personally elated to be part of the Nobel hygiene growth story,” said Nikhil Vora.
Nobel Hygiene Pvt Ltd:
Nobel Hygiene was established in the year 2000 and is the largest manufacturer of disposable hygiene products in India. Today, it is the undisputed leader in the adult diaper category and the only Indian manufacturer with a product offering across adult (Friends), baby (Teddyy) and feminine disposable hygiene products. Nobel was the first company to launch sanitary pad designed for women with heavy flow (RIO-Heavy Flow Pads). Nobel Hygiene’s range of products are available on both offline and online platforms and are available across 200,000 retail outlets. Currently, Nobel Hygiene produces over 1 billion diapers and underpads annually across both adults and baby category.
Quadria Capital:
Quadria Capital is an independent healthcare focussed private equity firm with assets under management exceeding US$ 2 billion and investments in 23 companies across the Asia-Pacific region.
Quadria Capital’s key differentiator is its ability to leverage the deep healthcare operating experience and domain expertise of its team to drive tangible value creation at portfolio companies and help them emerge as regional industry leaders. Quadria Capital seeks to make meaningful, positive impact by increasing access to affordable, high quality healthcare to Asia’s underserved populations.
