Arvind Lifestyle Brands, a subsidiary of Arvind, one of the oldest and largest integrated Indian textile players, has bought the business operations of British fashion retailers Debenhams, Next and American Lifestyle brand Nautica in India from Planet Retail.
Addressing a press conference, Sanjay Lalbhai, Chairman and Managing Director, Arvind, said, “we want to change the DNA of Arvind from being synonymous with denim and by doing so, we will increase shareholder value. The industry is at an inflexion point, and although the last year has not helped, we still grew at 38 per cent.”
He said the total cost of the acquisition of these three brands in India was Rs. 55 crore. “Including acquisition cost, our investment in these three brands over three years would be Rs.150 crore,’’ he said, adding, “this signals our entry into the department store segment through Debenhams, the globally fast growing apparel specialty retail segment through Next, and sportswear lifestyle segment through Nautica.”
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Arvind has the license to operate in India, and plans to focus here.
The company has over 1.3 million sq. ft. of retail space pan-India with 730 retail stores in 150 towns and has a presence in 700 Indian multi-brand outlets. It has five stores in Dubai and two in South Africa.
Arvind plans to more than triple its sales from the present Rs.1, 600 crore to Rs.5, 000 crore in the next five years.
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“Over five years, we will invest around Rs.1, 000 crore. Organic growth at a conservative 20 per cent CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) will see sales grow to Rs.3,000 crore but inorganic growth, including acquisitions, new brand launches and joint ventures, will contribute Rs.2,000 crore in five years,” said Mr. Lalbhai.
J. Suresh, Managing Director and CEO, Arvind Lifestyle Brands, said, “By 2015, Debenhams stores will go up from 2 to 8, Next from 3 to 12 and Nautica from 11 to 41. We are also planning a presence in about 70 shop-in-shops.”