KOLKATA | NEW DELHI: The retail unit of Reliance IndustriesNSE 1.31 % has acquired mid-segment menswear brand John Players from ITCNSE 0.41 % Ltd. This will add Rs 350 crore to Reliance Retail’s value fashion business carried out through Reliance Trends and Ajio.com, said people with knowledge of the matter.
“The acquisition will strengthen Reliance Retail’s readymade garments and accessories portfolio in the fashion and lifestyle retail space, and further consolidate leadership positio ..
ITC TO FOCUS ON PREMIUM SEGMENT
As part of the deal signed last week, estimated at about Rs 150 crore, Reliance has acquired the assets of John Players, which includes the brand and distribution rights through 750 stores, including 65 exclusive franchise outlets. The acquisition will help Reliance bolster its own-brand apparel business, which will be an important element of its upcoming ecommerce business, experts said.
The sale of the brand is part of a recast by ITC of its apparel business to focus on the premium end through the WLS stores that were relaunched last month, earlier known as ITC Wills Lifestyle.
“A substantial portion of John Players business, around 65%, was already undertaken through Reliance Retail, through Reliance Trends stores and Ajio.com,” said one of the persons cited abov
The lifestyle retail business of ITC was hit by competition in the past two-three years from value fashion retailers such as Reliance Trends, Future Group’s FBB and Lifestyle’s Max besides heavy discounts on apparel sold by ecommerce firms like Flipkart, Myntra and Amazon.
ITC does not disclose financials of the lifestyle retail business, but sources said it’s loss-making. The WLS chain is a larger business contributing abou ..
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