Paragon Partners invests Rs. 100 crore in two firms.

Paragon Partners has invested Rs. 100 crore ($ 15 million) in two firms. It pumped Rs. 75 crore in Cravatex Brands, a pan-India retail and distribution platform for lifestyle, sports and wellness, and Rs. 25 crore in InCred Finance, a technology-driven lender backed by Anshu Jain, the former co-chief executive of Germany's Deutsche Bank.

With these two deals, Paragon has deployed Rs. 275 crore across four companies through its maiden fund Paragon Partners Growth Fund-I, the private equity firm said. Paragon has been founded by Siddharth Parekh, the younger son of HDFC chief Deepak Parekh, and his childhood friend and Wharton mate Sumeet Nindrajog.

The two are raising their first fund with a targeted corpus of $200 million, which is likely to announce a first close at $60 million in four to five weeks. The private equity firm's advisory board includes Deepak Parekh and Marico chairman Harsh Mariwala.

Cravatex Brands is a wholly-owned subsidiary of listed company Cravatex, and has an exclusive long-term licensing agreement with Fila, an Italian sportswear and lifestyle brand, for footwear, apparel, and accessories. It has exclusive distribution rights, through its Proline Fitness division, for Johnson Healthtech (Taiwan), a maker of fitness equipment.

Commenting on the transaction, Sumeet Nindrajog, Co-Founder & Senior Partner, Paragon Partners, said, “We are very happy to partner with Cravatex Brands, which is entering an exciting phase of growth. The opportunity to partner with global brands in the fast-growing sportswear and wellness industries driven by the strong Indian consumption story makes for a great investment thesis. We believe together we can significantly grow the FILA brand as well as reinforce the Company’s leadership in the wellness industry.”

Rajesh Batra, Chairman & Managing Director of Cravatex, said, “We are pleased to be associated with Paragon Partners as we embark on our next journey of growth. With the support of an actively involved investor of such high pedigree and our operational knowledge of the market we feel very confident of our future success.”

BS