Mumbai: Italian fashion apparel maker, Grotto, best known for its jeans brand GAS, is set to strike a strategic partnership with Reliance Brands, a unit of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries, in an attempt to revamp its India play. Reliance Brands will buy a 50% stake with management rights in a deal which is in the final stages, they added.
GAS made its India debut in 2006 through Raymond and parted ways three years later. In 2010, GAS returned to the country through a completely owned cash-and-carry format, reaching customers through the franchisee route.Reliance Brands' chief executive declined to comment on the story, while emailed query to GAS headquarters remained unanswered at the time of going to press. The Grotto family is expected to assign the brand rights for the Indian market to the new equally owned joint venture company, sources said.
The GAS label, launched by Claudio Grotto in 1984, is the latest lifestyle brand to tweak its India strategy to sharpen its focus on one of the world's fastest growing economies to offset slowing growth in western markets. A few days ago, shoemaker Pavers England, which is present in India through a franchisee model, has decided to operate as a 100% retail outfit. Likewise, sportswear brand Quiksilver plans to convert its licensing arrangement with Reliance Brands in to a 51: 49 JV, with the former holding the majority stake.
GAS or Grotto Apparel Sportswear has a few exclusive outlets and presence in department stores in the country currently. Reliance Brands operates about 60 stores for a slew of international fashion brands like Diesel, Kenneth Cole, Thomas Pink, Paul & Shark and Zegna among others. The company, which has the backing of the deep-pocketed Reliance Industries, wants to be a platform for international labels across lifestyle and accessories aiming to enter the Indian market.
Limagrain buys vegetable seeds co
Mumbai: French giant Groupe Limagrain has acquired New Delhi-based Century Seeds, clinching its second buyout in the Indian market. Limagrain subsidiary Vilmorin signed a deal with the local vegetable seed maker, strengthening its presence in the Rs 8,000-crore domestic seeds market. Earlier, Limagrain had acquired controlling interest in Atash Seeds, a unit of biotech firm Avasthagen, specializing in field crop technologies for rice, wheat and maize. TNN
0 comments:
Post a Comment