In the first big M&A deal in India this year, leading firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has guided FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) on its acquisition of 90.5 percent stake in Jaipur-based skincare startup Minimalist for close to $350 million (29.5 billion rupees).
Uprising Science, owner of the Minimalist brand, and its founders Mohit Yadav and Rahul Yadav, were represented by Trilegal.
HUL will acquire this 90.5 percent stake through a combination of secondary transactions and primary capital infusion from existing investors, including Peak XV Partners, represented by Khaitan & Co., and others. HUL plans to purchase the remaining 9.5 percent from Minimalist's founders within two years, according to terms set out in the transaction documents.
This acquisition comes four years after Minimalist raised approximately $12 million in Series A funding led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India), with participation from Unilever Ventures, the venture and private equity arm of Unilever.
IndusLaw has represented Unilever Ventures on the current deal.
The deal, one of the largest transactions in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) space, is expected to close by the end of the June quarter of 2025.
"This deal not only underscores the rising global confidence in innovative, homegrown Indian brands that prioritize science-backed and sustainable solutions but also sets a new benchmark for the D2C sector. We believe this transaction will inspire greater investor confidence and attract further interest in the D2C space, driving its evolution and growth," Nikhil Sachdeva, Trilegal's lead partner on the deal, told ALB.
The transaction team from CAM was led by partners Smruti Shah and Soumya Srivastava, with support from principal associate Priya Gupta and associates Samaksh Khanna and Keerthi Kumar.
Partners Avaantika Kakkar, Kaustav Kundu (antitrust) and Swati Sharma (intellectual property) also provided assistance on the deal.
The Trilegal deal team was led by Sachdeva, and included counsel Meghmala Singh and associates C.N. Yashwanth and Sidharth Pattnaik.
Partners Rudresh Singh (competition), Apeksha Mattoo (labour and employment) and Meyyappan Nagappan (tax) also assisted on the deal.
Khaitan's team included partners Bharat Anand and Nidhi Killawala, counsel Mukul Aggarwal and senior associate Zeni Arora.
The IndusLaw team comprised of partner Rashi Saraf and principal associate Rohit Jain.
