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Bijou Kurien, a retail sector veteran and former chief executive (lifestyle) at Reliance Retail, has joined L Capital Asia, the private equity arm of French luxury giant LVMH, as member, strategic advisory board.
Kurien, 54, part of the team that built Reliance Retail, had quit the organisation last year.
"I will spend some time with L Capital Asia as member of their strategy board. I am pursuing my own interests and mentoring a few young start-ups the rest of the month," Kurien said.
L Capital Asia, which has two funds, of $635 million (Rs 3,746 crore; it has investments in 13 companies) and $950 million, is one of the most aggressive investors in the consumer space in Southeast Asia. In India, it has invested $113 million (Rs 666 crore) in companies such as in ethnic wear chain Fabindia, PVR Cinemas and Genesis Luxury from its first fund.
Paris-headquartered L Capital Management, the European affiliate of L Capital Asia, has commitments of ^1 billion.
Kurien said he joined L Capital's strategy board because it had invested in brands and retail across categories such as fashion, beauty, accessories and food services, in the Asia-Pacific region. "As member of the board, there exists significant opportunity to evaluate new opportunities and add value to existing investments in a rapidly developing part of the world. As board member, I have an opportunity to play a part in steering the fund, as well as adding value to the operational performance of the portfolio companies," he said.
Arvind Singhal, chairman of Technopak Advisors, said, "Bijou has handled retail and brands for a long time. He will bring a lot of expertise about retail and brands, especially from India's point of view."
He added L Capital had an interesting portfolio of brands in companies such as Fabindia and Genesis Luxury, which retail brands such as Armani, Canali and Jimmy Choo. "They don't just bring financial investment; they bring also in management know-how, as they have international expertise in brands and retail. They (L Capital) have chosen promising sectors and companies. Only time will tell how their investments turn out," he said.
L Capital's senior management team includes managing partner Ravi Thakran, who has worked with Swatch group, Nike and the Tata group; regional managing director (Singapore) Sanjay Gujral, earlier executive director of Everstone Capital and vice-president of EY; and regional managing director (India) Uday Mehra, who earlier held senior management roles at Nike and Tommy Hilfiger.
An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, Kurien started his career as a management trainee at Hindustan Unilver. Subsequently, he spent 19 years at lifestyle company Titan Industries, where he was chief operating officer, before moving to Reliance Retail.
