IN 2008, TERMS LIKE 'Omnichannel', 'UPI', 'D2C' and 'e-commerce' were entirely foreign concepts when Mithun Sacheti and his co-founder Srinivasa Gopalan ventured into the world of online jewelry retail. Their journey embodies the tale of ambition, aiming to establish one of India's most prominent jewelry brands. Despite operating at a loss for an uninterrupted period of 12 years, Sacheti managed to capture the attention of the Tata group, leading to the complete acquisition of Carat Lane by the the group's jewelry and watches business, the Titan Company.
Stellar Exit
In an unusual event in the Indian startup ecosystem, the co-founder of Carat Lane sold his existing 27.6 per cent stake for a whopping Rs 4,621 crore, making it one of the largest clean, cash exits. The Titan Company has progressively acquired stake in Carat Lane since 2016 and Carat Lane has been fairly profitable since FY2021.
"The beauty of these kinds of transactions is that they come out of nowhere," says Sacheti. For Mithun Sacheti, the decision to sell his residual stake to the Tata group company was not a settlement done overnight. Asked why he had not opted for the initial public offering (IPO) route to offload his stake, Sacheti says, "I would have loved to do an IPO but Tata did not see any route, did not see any value addition. If I had a chance to change anything in this whole journey, any point which would have made an IPO mandatory, we could have done it."
How did this start? What led to this deal? Sacheti recalls, "At some point in 2020, Titan felt that they wanted to own this entire business. Many discussions and meetings took place since then." He goes on to say, "My role was to try and see if I could convince them otherwise, I think they would have been really happy if I ran the business but didn't own the business."
Denne historien er fra September 23, 2023-utgaven av BW Businessworld.
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Denne historien er fra September 23, 2023-utgaven av BW Businessworld.
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THE Hon'ble Finance Minister made history in July 2024 by presenting her seventh budget, surpassing the record previously held by Morarji Desai. Beyond this historic milestone, the budget stood out for its trans-formative measures aimed at fostering India's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
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MAHAKUMBH 2025
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JASMINE SHAH, then vice-chairman of the Delhi government think-tank, the Dialogue and Development Commission, conceived the idea of writing a book about the Delhi Model of governance while Aam Admi Party (AAP) convenor and Delhi's former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia were both at Tihar Jail for the alleged liquor scam in the state. By the time The Delhi Model – A Bold Road Map to Building a Developed India was released, campaigning for the Delhi legislative assembly elections were in full swing. The AAP leader though, stole some time out to discuss the book with BW Businessworld 's Madhumita Chakraborty. Excerpts:
