India has faced a revolution literally in all wakes. With the rise in dispensable income, there is high consumerism in the country. With opening up of the emerging markets, the cosmetic companies are broadening in response to the vast diversity of populations. The Indian face wants to look good. The Indian Women are no longer limited to their homes, but have come out & are walking with the same pace as the men. Hence they are more conscious of their looks & are widely opting for the cosmetics that is available in the market. It is not only the female section of the society, who use beauty & cosmetic range but the Indian men too are worried about their looks. There are lot of products specially designed for men too. The cosmetic companies not only produce the traditional makeup items like compact, mascara or lipsticks, but are rapidly adapting themselves to the changing demands of its customers. Today the markets offer a wide range of cosmetic products to choose from. There are smart products like anti-aging solutions, concealers which has taken a lady’s beauty to a new level. Fragrances, body lotions, hair products, hand & foot care products, you name it & you have it. There are products to suit each age group & each requirement.

The hair care industry has grown a lot in the recent years. The reason can be attributed to the fact that a large portion of our Indian population is using higher quality branded products. Of the estimated Rs.1, 611 billion FMCG market in India, hair care products make up approximately Rs.91.5 billion, or 8%, of the total according the Nielsen Retail Audit Report. The 14% growth rate in the hair care industry is also slightly higher than the overall industry average of 13.4%. Shampoo and hair oils, including coconut oils, continue to be the key components of this segment. The marketing startegy of rural distribution campaigns adopted by the hair oil manufacturers and dealers have helped to greatly expand the geographic coverage of hair oil products into the rural parts of the country. In addition, average prices for hair oil products have risen from Rs. 22.25 per 100 ml in 2008 to Rs.23.74 per 100 ml in 2009 according to the Nielsen Retail Audit Report.

Future Ventures is a VC/Private Equity Company that has invested in a number of small Indian companies and startups mainly focused on the consumption industry in India.With India growing at around 8-9% in the last few years and expectations of strong future growth driven by consumption,Future Ventures seems a good investment considering the portfolio of companies that it owns (analyzed below).Future Ventures is a part of the Future Group run by Kishore Biyani who started India’s most famous retail company Pantaloons.The Company has set a price band of 10-11 rupees a share with a target of raising around Rs. 750crore though the IPO.This would represent around 40% of the equity which would give it a post IPO market capitalization of around $375 million.Note the company had tried to come with an IPO 2 years ago but it was deemed to expensive at that time.

Lovable Lingerie is an innerwear textile company that is coming out with a $20 million IPO.Unlike other totally junk issues which are totally hands of market operators,this one seems to have decent fundamentals and the valuation is not too expensive either.The company has managed to sell 6% pre-IPO to Sequioa Capital which is one of the blue blood PE firms in the country.However this should not be an endorsement given that a number of their investments have bombed in the recent mid cap and small cap carnage.Corporate governance and management issues in small companies in India is totally out of control so investing just based on pure fundamentals does not help.Also a number of other companies in the same sector in textiles remain at attractive valuations.That said the company does have good differentiation as it leverages on the fast growing Indian consumer growth story.The company sells Lingerie though top retail outlets like Lifestyle,Shopper’s Stop in top Indian metros and has good brand recall.Here are the positives and negatives of the company based on its DRHP.