Softbank-backed Lenskart picks majority stake in Owndays

Lenskart, the SoftBank-backed omni-channel eye-wear retailer, has picked up a majority stake in Owndays – Japan’s direct-to-consumer eyewear brand.

The acquisition will expand Lenskart’s presence to 13 markets in Asia, including Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and now Japan.

As a part of the deal, the majority shareholders of Owndays – L Catterton Asia and Mitsui & Co., Principal Investments – will sell their stake to Lenskart. The company is yet to disclose the size of the deal.

The cofounders of Owndays – CEO Shuji Tanaka and COO Take Umiyam – will continue as shareholders and lead the management team of Owndays post the deal. It will continue to operate as a separate brand. 

Lenskart currently serves over 10 million customers and has a presence in 235 cities in India and Singapore.  The company’s revenue stood at Rs 905.3 crore in FY21 as compared to Rs 900 crore in FY20, as per the company’s annual financial statements. Importantly, the company had managed to increase its annual profit by nearly 4.6X to Rs 28.92 crore from Rs 6.32 crore in FY20. 

Last month, Lenskart’s subsidiary Neso Brands had raised $100 million in its seed round led by KKR, Softbank, Alpha Wave Global and Temasek.