V-Mart acquires e-commerce platform LimeRoad for ₹31 cr

Value retail chain V-Mart Retail said it will acquire e-commerce platform LimeRoad for a lump sum cash consideration of ₹31.12 crore as it looks to expand its presence as an omni-channel value fashion retailer.

As part of acquisition of LimeRoad, the brick-and-mortar retailer is also acquiring assets worth ₹14.61 crore and assuming current liabilities of ₹36.26 crore, according to V-Mart's stock exchange filing.

V-Mart further plans to invest a total of ₹150 crore to enable LimeRoad to scale and achieve sustained profitability.

Through this acquisition, the companies will leverage clear identified synergies and deliver emerging fashion trends to 5 crore digital first shoppers of Bharat, V-Mart says in a statement.

LimeRoad will fundamentally solve the trust and quality issues for value customers online, and work with V-Mart's expertise to translate emerging trends into product depth, through sharply focused owned direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, it adds.

The transaction is expected to be completed in around 60 days.

Backed by marquee investors, including Tiger Global, Matrix, and Lightspeed, LimeRoad had earlier raised over $51 million in various funding rounds.

Founded in 2012, the e-commerce startup at its peak was delivering a gross merchandise value (GMV) of ₹700 crore with women contributing to 65% of the business.

"V-Mart is one of the strongest players in the value retail segment fulfilling fashion needs of masses across India. With this acquisition we aim to not only acquire digital first millennials but build our omni-channel expertise," says Lalit Agarwal, managing director of V-Mart Retail.

V-Mart will operate LimeRoad as an independent business unit, retaining its tech start-up culture. Suchi Mukherjee, the founder of LimeRoad, will join V-Mart’s leadership team as CEO of LimeRoad and the omni-channel business. Ankush Mehra, co-founder of LimeRoad, will continue as COO of the e-commerce platform.

"V-Mart is a leader in the price meets quality space. This partnership helps us fundamentally solve the quality conundrum at value prices online, and accelerate our vision of making the freshest of fashion accessible to our core customer through a uniquely rich online-offline experience," says Mukherjee.

"This is a large market, expected to grow at 39% CAGR over the next 5 years. Excellent execution is key to sustained share and value creation," Mukherjee adds.