Access India Fund and its co-investors (Access PE) on Wednesday said it has exited its entire stake in adult diaper maker Nobel Hygiene, with 8 times returns on its investment. The stake was picked up by Quadria Capital, who also invested in the company and acquired an additional stake from CLSA Capital, investing almost Rs500 crore in the transaction.
Access PE had invested Rs37 crore in Nobel in 2013 for a 29% stake. It made a partial exit in 2015 when it sold 10.3% stake to CLSA. Access achieved a complete exit in 2021 by selling the balance 18.7% stake to Quadria for Rs191 crore.
During Access’s investment period from 2013-21, Nobel consolidated its adult diaper leadership and made significant inroads in baby diapers, the statement said. “Today, Nobel is the dominant market leader in adult diapers with its brand Friends, and the largest Indian player in baby diapers after the MNCs with its brands, Teddyy and Snuggy,” it added. Globally, adult diapers are a significant consumer category at about 25% of the baby diaper market size.
Sangeeta Modi, Managing Partner, Access Asset Managers, said, “We partnered with Nobel in early 2013 when the company was about ₹112 crs in revenue and already had a dominant market leadership in adult diapers. We have worked successfully with the founder Kamal Johari, who has achieved a five-fold growth in revenue during the period of our investment. This investment validates our thesis of investing in market leaders in sunrise industries. The Indian diapers segment is still underpenetrated as India has by far the world’s largest population of infants and second largest population of seniors”.
Veda Corporate Advisors acted as exclusive bankers to the transaction.