VCCircle

The buzz is global buyout fund Blackstone Group may be looking to invest $100 million in publicly listed apparel maker Gokaldas Exports. Business Standard reports that Blackstone is looking to pick up 10-15 per cent stake, which will value the company at around $900 million to $1 billion. NDTV Profit also reported last week that Blackstone is a frontrunner for a deal with Gokaldas Exports. Although it's still in the realm of speculation, if the deal goes through, this can become one of the largest deals in apparel sector. Last year, Koutons Retail had raised $22 million from UTI Ventures and Argonaut Private Equity in two deals, which could be the biggest yet in apparel business. A few weeks ago, Avigo Capital Partners invested $5 million in Spykar, a Mumbai-based fashion retail company. They were comparatively smaller.

The Rs 1,000 crore-Gokaldas has a 400-acre special economic zone in Kanakpura, near Bangalore. It works with some 46 factories spread across Karanataka, and employs about 60,000 people directly and indirectly.

Another leading apparel exporter, Delhi-based Orient Craft said in May last year that it would raise private equity and also float an IPO to raise Rs 330 crore in four months. We haven't heard anything after that, though.