RmKV Silks looks to raise Rs 200 crore to widen its presence in South India

RmKV Silks, the Chennai-based wedding silks retailer, is looking to tap the private equity route to raise Rs 200 crore as part of its expansion to take on other high-profile players such as Nalli Silk Sarees and Kumaran Silks.

Founded in 1924 by Rm K Visvanatha Pillai, RmKV has over the years shot into prominence in the retail segment and has been gaining ground against other wedding silk retailers across South India.

RmKV Silks, which is currently run by the third generation of the family, has a turnover of Rs 500 crore and is present across seven expansive stores across Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Bangalore.

The company is gearing up to push across into Hyderabad and Kerala as well as part of its expansion plan even as it it aiming to grow at close to 40 per cent. The management of RmKV Silks did not respond to queries from Business Standard.

However, senior investment bankers in the know about RmKV fund raising plans indicated that there are two private equity funds who are in the final stages of discussions with the company and a deal will likely be sewn within the next few weeks.

RmKV Silks has over the years expanded its scope to be a complete family apparel store, but established its core focus as the specialist of wedding silk sarees with a plethora of innovations through its weave and waft.

The company has an advanced 'design studio' which has created numerous designs, the most notable being theme sarees and others like the 'grand reversible saree,' the '50,000-colour' saree, the and the light-silk saree collections. The retail store also offers a choice to custom-design sarees in one of over 50000 colours, to be hand-woven by RmKV's team of weavers.

The move by PE funds to open doors at RmKV Silks comes at a time when there is a growing interest from PE funds to tap into the designer wear market.

Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton or LVMH's private equity arm - L Capital, owns 40 per cent stake in Genesis that sells the designer brand 'Satya Paul.' L Capital is also reportedly in talks with top Indian designers, Rohit Bal and Sabyasachi Mukherjee to set up Indian luxury houses. L Capital had bought an eight per cent stake in Indian ethnic wear chain FabIndia last year.