Increasingly discerning and digitally savvy consumers are driving a shift in consumption behaviour, and consequently, investment trends.
Chinta Bhagat, Managing Partner, Asia at consumer-focused private equity firm L Catterton, said that, outside of the pandemic, there have been shifts in what consumers want, and how they access those goods and services.
“Consumption has become much more about what people desire rather than simply what they need, and off the back of that, it’s become less organised to more organised, less branded to more branded,” he said.
Bhagat added: “Consumers have heightened consciousness, both about themselves as well as about the environment.”
He was speaking at a fireside chat at the recently-concluded DealStreetAsia’s Asia PE-VC Summit 2021.
At L Catterton Asia, “we’ve become a lot more broad-based, relative to our history, with regards to what we consider ‘consumer’,” Bhagat said.
Among the segments of interest are pet food brands, and healthcare and wellness companies. L Catterton has recently invested in Japanese healthcare services provider PHC Holdings, Chinese drinks brand Genki Forest, and Indonesian beauty platform Social Bella (Sociolla).
The firm is also scouting for further investment opportunities in earlier-stage, high growth companies in Asia.
“The themes we like are being better exploited by these younger companies,” Bhagat explained. “Ultimately we’re trying to find alpha, and leaning into risk, recognising we’ve assessed it properly.”
L Catterton is currently deploying out of its third Asia fund, which closed in 2019 at $1.45 billion.
Separately, it has launched a $250 million special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) targeting consumer tech companies in Asia.
Edited excerpts of the fireside chat with Bhagat:-
