Is Mahindra Group Looking To Acquire BabyOye?

The Mahindra Group, a $17 Bn conglomerate is looking to buy online retailer for kids products Babyoye. “Due diligence is on. Mahindra Partners is looking to buy Babyoye through its retail business Mahindra Retail… There are significant synergies between Mom & Me and Babyoye. It will prove to be the online platform that Mom & Me has been looking for to expand its sales,” said the source close to the development.

The size of deal cannot be asserted at the moment.

According to another source, Mahindra Group is in the final phase of due diligence.

For Mahindra which already runs a chain of baby-care stores i.e. Mom & Me this acquisition will complement to its existing network.

Mahindra Retail currently operates over 100 Mom & Me and Beanstalk stores, which earned revenues of INR 206 Cr. and a loss of INR 114 Cr. in fiscal year 2014. On the other side, launched 4 years back by Nadkarni and his wife Arunima Singhdeo, BabyOye had raised INR 90 Cr. from Accel Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Tiger Global Management early this year. In April 2013, the startup had acquired Hoopos in an all-stock deal.

In terms of hybrid presence, another player FirstCry leads BabyOye, it has tied up with 500 brands and is currently offering over 70,000 products. It has 50 branded franchise stores across 45 cities and expects to grow this network to 100 stores. This year it raised $15 Mn in series C round funding. Firstcry’s investors include Vertex Venture Management, IDG Ventures India and Saif Partners.

Market size for baby, kids and maternity products is estimated at INR 40,000 Cr annually, growing at 15-20% a year.