Private Equity firm Everstone to takeover Kenstar from Century Appliances

NEW DELHI: The mystery surrounding the buyer of the Kenstar brand of home appliances was put to rest on Monday, with home-grown private equity player Everstone Capital announcing that it has agreed to acquire the business from Videocon Group firm Century Appliances.

According to Everstone’s statement, the proposed sale, subject to statutory approvals and specific clearances, includes the purchase and transfer of the Kenstar brand and businesses under the brand on a going-concern basis, including a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, as well as assets.

“Kenstar is a marquee household appliances brand with a strong recall. Everstone looks forward to investing in the Kenstar brand and leverage our operating expertise to unlock its true potential by strengthening the dealer network, supporting product innovation, and investing in brand building,” said Avnish Mehra, managing director at Everstone.

The deal stipulates that the existing management team at Kenstar, led by business head Rajiv Kenue, will continue to manage the business, and will be strengthened significantly by the operational capabilities, additional resources and financial investments of the Everstone Group.

As part of the deal, Everstone will also enter into a strategic alliance with Videocon group and other manufacturers for manufacturing, product development, and cooperation on promoting the Kenstar brand.

“We believe Everstone is the perfect partner for Kenstar with the right mix of financial resources and operating expertise to rapidly grow the latent potential of the Kenstar business,” said Anirudh Dhoot, director, Century Appliances Ltd.While size of the deal was not disclosed, sources say that Everstone’s initial bid for the business was around `1,300 crore.

Everstone and Kenstar deal

• Everstone’s initial bid for the Kenstar business was around Rs 1,300 crore
• The purchase and transfer of the Kenstar brand and businesses under the brand on a going-concern basis, including a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, as well as assets
• Everstone has also acquired other businesses from larger groups earlier — in April 2016, it took over Hindustan Unilever Ltd’s bread and bakery division Modern