The most expensive maternity center has become a limited partner.

Investment Circle has learned that today (March 18th), Saint Bella, the leading enterprise in Asian family care, announced a strategic cooperation with L Catterton, a fund under LVMH. According to the announcement, the cooperation between the two parties covers multiple dimensions, including technological innovation support and experience auditing, two - way resource linkage, assistance in international layout, joint investment incubation, strategic acquisition and introduction, and global brand linkage.

Xiang Hua, the founder of Saint Bella, revealed to Investment Circle that this strategic cooperation also includes the intention to invest in L Catterton's RMB fund as a limited partner (LP).

L Catterton, a fund under the LVMH Group and the world's largest consumer private equity institution, recently held a signing ceremony with Wuxi High - tech Zone and announced the joint establishment of a consumer - related equity investment fund. This is another important move by L Catterton in China's core economic regions after setting up RMB funds in Chengdu and Guangzhou.

There are subtle signs of a changing trend. Just as recently, the ChiNext welcomed signals for consumer IPOs, and the feeling of a recovery in consumer investment has become more and more obvious. Consumer investors who have been lying low for a long time have started to travel frequently on business, and the financing window for consumer projects is about to open.

Consumer fundraising at the beginning of the year

According to the Wuxi Daily, the consumer - related fund jointly established by L Catterton and Wuxi High - tech Zone Science and Industry Group is not only a "blood transfusion" of capital but also a "drainage" of international top - level resources.

The fund plans to focus on investing in enterprises with technological barriers or business innovation advantages in the general consumer fields such as consumer brands, retail channels, consumer healthcare, cultural IP, and experiential consumption, with a particular focus on mature - stage and pre - IPO projects.

At the end of 2025, Wuxi was successfully selected as a national "pilot city for new consumption formats, models, and scenarios". The arrival of L Catterton will undoubtedly help Wuxi build a new high - ground for the consumer industry based in the Yangtze River Delta and facing the world.

Investment Circle has exclusively learned that the listed company Saint Bella will participate in L Catterton's RMB fund. Founded in 2017, Saint Bella is a domestic high - end family care brand, and its flagship ultra - high - end maternity care centers have left a deep impression on the outside world. In June 2025, Saint Bella was successfully listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

When talking about this cooperation, Xiang Hua, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Saint Bella Group, told Investment Circle that L Catterton is the world's largest and most professional consumer fund, and its team has a profound understanding of consumer investment. In addition, L Catterton has the top - level genes of the luxury goods industry backed by the LVMH ecosystem. In the future, Saint Bella hopes to accelerate its overseas layout with the help of L Catterton's global network and further improve its brand matrix through investment and mergers and acquisitions.

Xiang Hua revealed that based on the common recognition of the global trend of upgrading the consumer health industry, the two parties reached a cooperation agreement in a very short time. "This is not just a pure financial investment but a two - way empowerment of industrial resources."

So far, L Catterton has further deepened its layout of RMB funds.

Previously, its first RMB fund was launched in Chengdu High - tech Zone. On October 31, 2022, L Catterton announced the first close of its first RMB fund in China. The LPs mainly consisted of local fiscal investment platforms and domestic and foreign industrial investors. At that time, L Catterton officially announced its Chinese name "Luwei Kaiteng".

At that time, Li Jing, the person - in - charge of L Catterton's RMB fund, said in an interview: "The RMB fund platform is a key hub for deeply connecting with China's consumer industry. On the one hand, it allows us to conduct investment and operation in a more localized way and deeply understand the cultural core and consumption context behind Chinese brands. On the other hand, it also builds a channel for us to go global from China."

Through this platform, we are not only committed to cultivating more Chinese brands that can gain a foothold in the international market but also systematically promoting the grafting and collaboration of industrial resources of invested enterprises and partners on a global scale, accelerating the Chinese brands to move to the center of the international stage, and continuously building a global consumer ecosystem for the future."

Then in 2024, L Catterton (Guangzhou) Consumer Equity Investment Fund was launched, focusing on fields such as beauty and personal care, healthcare, and brand expansion overseas. This was the first time that L Catterton established a new - consumer industry fund in the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area.

An even more symbolic event was that at the beginning of this year, L Catterton announced a strategic cooperation with Maogeping Beauty Group, and the two parties plan to jointly establish an equity investment fund focusing on the global high - end beauty field.

Thus, L Catterton's in - depth exploration of the Chinese market is gradually unfolding.

Indicator: Consumer investment is about to recover

It is worth mentioning that L Catterton has a prestigious background. It was formed by the merger of L Capital under the LVMH Group and the US private equity firm Catterton, and the fund brand has accumulated more than 30 years of investment experience in the consumer industry. So far, L Catterton manages funds with a total scale of up to $40 billion (about 270 billion RMB).

This investment force backed by the LVMH Group has a global footprint. In particular, its Chinese team has become increasingly active, successively investing in new - consumer benchmarks such as HeyTea and Yuanqi Forest, then entering the pet track by investing in brands like Natural Balance and Pat, and also investing in companies such as Chuangjian Medical (recombinant collagen), Babyganics (baby skincare), TENWAYS (electric bicycles), and Weiyi Soymilk (the leading plant - based protein beverage brand in Sichuan and Chongqing), leaving a deep impression on the industry.

During this period, consumer investment in China has experienced ups and downs. Fortunately, after going through a trough, consumer investment is regaining mainstream attention.

A symbolic event was that on March 6th, Wu Qing, the chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, revealed at a press conference on the economic theme during the 4th Session of the 14th National People's Congress that a more precise and inclusive listing standard will be added to the ChiNext. The ChiNext will actively support high - quality innovative and entrepreneurial enterprises in new consumption and modern service industries to issue and list.

The words "new consumption" and "issuing and listing" carry great weight. This means that the ChiNext, which has given birth to numerous consumer blue - chip stocks, will open its doors to consumer enterprises again.

In the past few years, difficult exits have always been a major concern for consumer investors. In particular, there has not been a single consumer IPO in the A - share market, and consumer enterprises that have gone to the Hong Kong stock market have also faced problems of liquidity and valuation differentiation. Consumer investment institutions have collectively faced the situation of blocked exits.

This change is highly anticipated. "A smooth exit path is like a timely rain." After all, only when exits are possible can investors be brave enough to invest.

Opportunities always favor the prepared. Investment Circle has learned that many VC/PE firms with a keen sense of smell are moving quickly. Some VC institutions have held urgent internal meetings to re - evaluate their project pipelines. High - quality consumer targets that were once considered "hopeless for A - share listing" are back on the table. Many consumer companies have taken action, trying to seize the new wave of financing opportunities. Some consumer investors have also revealed that the long - stagnant plans for consumer - specific funds within their institutions can finally be put on the agenda.

After all the ups and downs, the narrative of consumer investment in China is in the making.

Actually, if we look closely, after years of reshuffling and waiting, consumer investment in China has entered a healthy stage. Here, with a population base of 1.4 billion, the size of the world's second - largest consumer market, a culture that combines unity and diversity, the world's leading supply - chain advantages, and booming technological innovation, there is fertile ground for nurturing Chinese consumer brands.

As L Catterton has judged: After experiencing cyclical fluctuations, market changes, and external environmental changes, the team has always believed in one thing - people need to eat, dress, live, and pursue better experiences. "This industry will always exist, the demand will always be there, and the value will always remain. The signal of recovery is not a short - term hype but a real return of the fundamentals."

It still holds true that in China, the consumer market always has "a long slope and thick snow".

This article is from the WeChat official account "Investment Circle" (ID: pedaily2012). The author is Yang Jiyun, and it is published by 36Kr with authorization.