Titan Co. Ltd is in advanced talks to buy a majority stake in homegrown wearables maker Noise, two people familiar with the development said, as the Tata group-controlled watch and jewellery maker aims to strengthen its presence in the booming wearables market.
The transaction is likely to value Noise, run by Gurugram-based Nexxbase Marketing Pvt. Ltd, at about ₹700 crore- ₹800 crore, the people cited above said. The valuation is based on twice the consumer electronics maker’s revenue of ₹400 crore, which companies in the wearables category typically attract, they said, requesting anonymity.
Affordable prices, capabilities such as fitness tracking and access to phone notifications have made wearable devices, such as smartwatches, extremely popular among youth. Smartwatches and wristband shipments in India grew more than 2.4 times in 2021, with smartwatches accounting for the lion’s share of these shipments, according to market researcher IDC India. The smartwatches segment was led by Noise, which saw a five-fold jump in shipments last year, with a 27% market share.
Wearables at affordable price points and sleek designs have driven the exponential growth of brands such as Noise and BoAt. The brand’s popularity may have spurred Bengaluru-based Titan’s interest in Noise, one of the people cited above said.
The Tata group company has been bullish on wearables and had acqui-hired smart devices maker Hug Innovations Inc. in February 2020 as part of a plan to focus on the fast-growing market.
Email queries sent to a spokesperson for Noise went unanswered until press time.
A spokesperson for Titan declined to comment.
Earlier, Noise had hired mid-market boutique investment bank IndigoEdge to scout for potential financial investors. In 2020, VCCircle reported that Noise was seeking to raise nearly ₹100 crore at a valuation of as much as ₹500 crore.
The company was founded by cousins Amit and Gaurav Khatri in 2018. Noise began as a seller of smartphone cases but later diversified into smart wearable devices, action cameras, portable speakers, Bluetooth headphones and wireless chargers.
