Optiemus Infracom acquires brick & mortar mobile seller UniverCell

According to sources, the deal happened 3-4 months ago; deal value is undisclosed

New Delhi-based Optiemus Infracom Ltd, a company into telecom-related business, has acquired mobile devices retail chain UniverCell, one of the largest brands in brick and mortar mobile phone retail sector in South India. It may be noted that private equity firm Peepul Capital had majority shareholding in UniverCell and has been reportedly looking to exit for long. The retail chain has been under stress after the rapid growth of e-commerce websites.

Optiemus Infracom Ltd, which has posted total revenue of Rs 2,556 crore during 2014-15, has acquired the retail chain almost three to four months ago, said market sources. Following the acquisition, the company also closed down a number of shops, which were not performing well, they said.

Ravinder Zutshi, former deputy managing director of Samsung India who comes with an experience of over 35 years in the consumer electronics industry, has been appointed as the managing director of Optiemus Infracom. It is promoted by Ashok Gupta, who is also the chairman of the company.

An official from Optiemus Infracom confirmed the acquisition. However, details of the deal were not revealed. An e-mail sent to Srini Raju of Peepul Capital did not elicit any response by the time of going to press. D Sathish Babu, founder of UniverCell Telecommunications, was also not immediately available for a comment.

Sathish Babu-founded UniverCell in November, 1997 and used to sell post paid mobile connections as a Skycell Teleshop (now AirTel Connect). In February 2000 he opened Chennai's first large-format mobile retail store in an upscale location in the city.

Peepul Capital made an investment from its Fund II, a growth fund, into Indus Mobile Distribution, which was the owner of the brand UniverCell, in February 2007. As per earlier reports, Peepul Capital has invested around Rs 100 crore in the company till 2008 and had a majority stake in UniverCell. It has over 370 outlets in South India across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, according to the investment firm's website.

While the company has grown fast and became one of the major players in the segment during the time, with the emergence of e-commerce websites, its business started taking hit in terms of sales. It has tried to overcome the challenge with various value added offerings and specialised stores.

The company earlier claimed that: "There are 200,000 people buying UniverCell handsets every month. This is the highest of any retailer in India. One out of every three handsets sold in the market is from UniverCell. Its current customer base stands at 10 million."