ITC Ltd raises stake in Mother Sparsh

“This refers to our letters dated November 26, 2021, December 18, 2021 and March 15, 2022 regarding acquisition of 16% share capital of Mother Sparsh (on a fully diluted basis). We write to advise that the Company has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of 1000 compulsorily convertible preference shares as of today 10 each mother touch. The said shares, once acquired, will take the company’s stake of 22% (on a fully diluted basis) in Mother Sparsh,” ITC said in its filing late on Tuesday.

The acquisition is in line with the company’s continued interest in the rapidly growing Direct to Consumer (D2C) space in the personal care category.

Mother Sparsh is an ayurvedic and natural personal care start-up with focus on mother and baby care segment.

In November 2021, ITC made its first investment in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand after taking a 16% stake in Mother Sparsh. 200 million. The company had then said that this acquisition is in line with ITC Next strategy, which will enable the company to develop a more digital-first fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand.

Mother Sparsh sells products such as biodegradable wipes as well as a plant-powered range of personal care products for children.

In a separate statement on Wednesday, Mother Sparsh said it was in “advanced discussions” to raise from 90 100 crore in Series B funding. Mother Sparsh will invest in scaling up research and development as well as driving innovation in the baby and mother care segment.

“As a brand an intrinsic innovative streak and the ethos of devising products on a need-based proposition based on nature-oriented solutions is at the heart of Mother Sparsh. Himanshu, Co-Founder and CEO, Mother Sparsh, said, “Our recurring funding aims to strengthen this mission through R&D in space and offer one-of-a-kind solutions to the needs of mothers and their little ones.