Aditya Birla Ups WROGN stake to 32.84% after investing INR 75 Cr
Aditya Birla Digital Fashion Ventures Ltd (ABDFVL) has increased its stake in the men's fashion brand co-owned by cricket star Virat Kohli, WROGN. The company has invested INR 75 Cr besides increasing its stake in WROGN to 32.84% compared to 17.10% on a fully diluted basis.
TMRW will further help strengthen ABDFVL's grip in digital-first space of fashion. The acquisition will add more to the portfolio of ABDFVL, which contains D2C brands. The investments made by ABDFVL were already witnessed with a milestone-based investment in WROGN.
Why was TMRW important for the acquisition by ABDFVL?
Investment is said to be coming in from the fashion and lifestyle arm of the Aditya Birla Group, TMRW. TMRW had, last June, acquired 16% in parent firm Universal Sportsbiz, the owner of WROGN, for a whopping INR 125 Cr. The cash and equity deal had seen an option to further raise its stake being exercised.
ABDFVL has currently invested in 12,225 CCPS to create a 32.84% stake in the company WROGN. It is a challenging move that would help strengthen this digital fashion giant in the future.
WROGN's Financial Fluctuation and Growth Strategy
WROGN, however, has struggled with new investments despite all this. The operating revenue of the brand for FY24 declined 29% to INR 243.8 Cr; compared with INR 344.3 Cr registered during the same quarter last year. Net losses for the company increased by 28% and were at INR 56.8 Cr as against INR 44.3 Cr in FY23.
Still, WROGN remains optimistic and aims to sell INR 1,500 Cr in five years. Fresh capital infusion by Aditya Birla Group is expected to bring in big changes along with a big push towards the ambitious target.
Aditya Birla's Diversified Portfolio of Digital-First Brands
This investment falls in line with the broader strategy of Aditya Birla Group for deepening its "house of brands" approach. Under the group umbrella brand TMRW, Aditya Birla Fashion had invested in D2C fashion labels such as The Indian Garage Co., Bewakoof, and Nauti Nati. TMRW has put in INR 444 Cr since 2022 across seven different D2C brands.
The deal with ABDFVL for WROGN comes at a time when, though tough by general standards, interest from investors still remains in the D2C space of India. Other fashion startups such as THEATER and FASHOR to have managed to raise fairly significant amounts of money over the past couple of months.
With inputs from agencies
Image Source: Multiple agencies
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