Warburg Pincus Acquires Majority Stake In Bathroom Fittings Maker Watertec

Warburg Pincus acquired a majority stake in bathroom accessories and fittings maker Watertec India Private Ltd.

Global private equity major acquired the controlling stake in Watertec via an affiliate Canyon Trail Investments B.V., the companies said in a joint statement. They didn’t disclose the stake and investment details.

Warburg is acquiring about 66% stake in Watertec from Watertec Malaysia and UMS Group at a valuation of $200 million, Mint reported.

“This investment will enable us to fortify our leadership position in the polymer-bath fittings market, enhance our brand equity, expand our product portfolio and extend our geographic presence to newer regions allowing us to serve customers and channel partners better,” Watertec India Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Ramesh Baliga said in the statement.

Watertec, founded in 1996, is one of India’s leading polymer-based bath fittings brand with a distribution network spanning over 20,000 retail touchpoints, according to the statement.

Warburg Pincus India Managing Director Anish Saraf said the bath-fittings is an attractive market poised for strong growth, driven by secular tailwinds from increasing sanitation levels, as well as growing housing penetration in Indian tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

“Watertec, with its leadership position, superior product quality and deep-distribution network targeting tier 2, tier 3 cities and rural India, is well positioned to capitalize on these tailwinds,” he added.

The company’s product portfolio comprises over 1,900 stock keeping units across various categories spanning taps, showers, mixers, health faucets, bathroom accessories, pipes, sanitaryware and other allied products.

As a part of the transaction, Mathew Job will join Watertec as the executive chairman, according to the statement.

Job, who has over three decades’ experience and expertise in scaling distribution-led consumer businesses, most recently served as the CEO of Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd., it said.

Previously, he served as the managing director of Grohe India, a leading metal-based bath-fittings brand.

“I’m looking forward to joining the talented team at Watertec, led by Ramesh in this exciting new chapter and working towards a phase of transformative growth,” Job said.

Watertec was started as a joint venture between Coimbatore-based UMS Group, Watertec Malaysia and Sri Lanka-based South Asian Investments, according to its website.

The company has three manufacturing facilities in Coimbatore in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu with production capacity of up to 35 million units per annum, 35 warehouses across the country and over 1,600 employees.

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