Kumar Mangalam Birla-led fashion retailer Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) has announced its second deal with an Indian designer brand in less than a month. The Mumbai-based retailer said that it has acquired a 33.5% stake in fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani’s Goodview Properties Private Ltd (GPPL)- that will own and operate the designer’s eponymous couture label-for ₹67 crore.
The deal comes close on the heels of ABFRL acquiring a 51% stake in Kolkata-based fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s company, Sabyasachi Couture, for ₹398 crore late last month. Sabyasachi Couture sells garments, accessories, and fine jewellery under the Kolkata-based designer's eponymous label.
ABFRL said that it has also acquired a 80% stake in a new unnamed entity, as part of the deal with Tahiliani (who will own the rest of the entity). In the new business, ABFRL will collaborate with Tahiliani to develop and launch a new brand of apparel and accessories in the affordable premium ethnic wear segment, the fashion retailer noted in a release. It will soon launch a men’s ethnic wear brand, it added. The new brand will aim to build a ₹500-crore business in the next five years with more than 250 stores across the country. It is looking to launch the first tranche of stores by September.
“We believe that over the next few years, ethnic wear is going to be an important category as confident Indians rediscover their culture and heritage. Tarun Tahiliani has been at the forefront of the emergence of the Indian design industry. We are proud to partner with him to launch a new brand that gives the emerging Indian consumer a new range of celebration wear reflecting the unmatched, exquisite design excellence at more accessible prices,” Ashish Dikshit, MD, ABFRL, said in a statement.
As part of the deal, ABFRL will have the option to increase its stake to 51% in Tahiliani's couture business in the next few years.
As part of the deal, Tahiliani Design Private Limited (TDPL), which currently runs the garments and accessories business under the Tarun Tahiliani brand, will be transferred to GPPL. TDPL, which was incorporated in 2002, posted a revenue of ₹69 crore in FY18, followed by ₹72 crore in FY19 and ₹67 crore in FY20.
“Last year, we celebrated 25 years of the Tarun Tahiliani label. The next big leap for the brand was to take our craftsmanship and expertise and offer it to a larger Indian market that knows and values quality and is actively seeking it. I was clear that we needed a partner who could not just help us with this scale, but also have the same dedication to quality and the customer,” Tahiliani, Founder and CEO, Tarun Tahiliani Brand, said in a release.
