Recently acquired affordable jewellery brand Caratlane has elevated one of its senior level executives to the position of chief executive officer.
Avnish Anand, who was chief operating officer so far, will now lead the Chennai-based accessible fashion jewellery brand, according to a press statement.
The announcement comes a week after the jewellery etailer was acquired by Titan Company Ltd, the Tata Group’s watch and jewellery retailing arm for Rs 4,621 crore ($556 million).
Anand, an alumnus of Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, was Caratlane’s first employee and a part of the founding team.
"Being a part of the founding team here at CaratLane, I’ve seen the brand’s evolution. We have an opportunity to build a bigger business in front of us. We look forward to working more closely with the Titan leadership," Anand said.
Caratlane, which was launched in 2008, claims itself to be the country's largest omnichannel jeweller, with a presence in 66 cities through 165 retail stores, as per its website. It competes primarily with the likes of Bluestone and Melorra.
“Anand comes with strategic and people leadership capabilities and has been instrumental in making CaratLane an omnichannel brand,” added CK Venkataraman, managing director, Titan.
Currently, Titan’s stake in Caratlane is poised to increase to 98.28% from 71.09% after the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval.
Titan, a joint venture between the Tata Group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), launched its operations in 1987 under the name Titan Watches Ltd.
It had bought a 62% stake in Caratlane seven years ago from US-based hedge fund and venture capital investor Tiger Global for about Rs 357 crore ($53 million back then).
