KUALA LUMPUR: Private equity firm Creador II LLC’s affiliate Idria Ltd has invested 135 crore rupees (RM78.65 million) for a minority stake in Mumbai-listed PC Jeweller Ltd. In a statement yesterday, Creador said the investment in PC Jeweller marks its 15th investment from its total portfolio, or its sixth investment in India.

PC Jeweller is a Pan-India jewellery retail chain that focuses on diamond and gold jewellery. Incorporated in 2005, PC Jeweller has 50 showrooms in 42 cities and 17 states. 

“The showrooms are large format in high street locations with a total retail footprint of 3.1 lakh sq ft,” said Creador.

It noted that the purchase of jewellery is rapidly moving from unorganised and stand-alone stores to large format, organised chains. 

“As the organised share in jewellery retail increases, PC Jeweller is bound to benefit from this trend and we are delighted to have this opportunity to partner with Balram [Garg] and his team in shaping its next phase of growth,” said Creador Advisors India senior managing director Anand Narayan.

Creador said PC Jeweller had demonstrated a strong financial track record over the last decade, led by Balram and a professional management team. It said between financial years 2010 and 2014, PC Jeweller had chalked up a 46% compounded annual growth rate in net profit, driven by an increasing proportion of domestic sales and diamond mix. 

In addition to domestic retail, PC Jeweller also exports hand-made designer jewellery, it said, adding that PC Jeweller has also recently ventured into e-commerce to tap the youth segment and impulse purchases. 

“It has an average return on equity of 34.7% over the last five years. The company is planning aggressive growth in Metros, Tier I and Tier II towns with a target of opening 20 new showrooms every year over the next five years,” added Creador.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 26, 2015.