Biyani looks for buys overseas to spruce up back-end ops

Future group, the country’s largest retailer, is learnt to be in talks for buying stakes in some international manufacturing companies, mainly in the consumer durables and home equipment space. The move is seen as an attempt by India’s biggest retailer at strengthening its back-end operations. The Future group already has sourcing tie-ups with some of these manufacturers.

However, when contacted, Future group MD Kishore Biyani, denied any such move. “We are not doing anything internationally as of now,” he said.

Nevertheless the buzz in the retail trade is that the group is in different stages of negotiations with various manufacturers in countries such as China, Indonesia, Vietnam, France and Denmark. The company has picked equity stakes in some domestic manufacturers such as Capital Foods and Biba Apparels. “These were simple private equity deals, where the company put in money as an investor. However, the international deals will be linked with strengthening the backend and the supply chain,” a source said.

The name of Denmark’s Tvilum Scanbirk, the world’s leading manufacturer of functional-board based office and home furniture, is being mentioned as a possible candidate in which Future group could be interested in picking up equity. But this could not be confirmed. Tvilum Scanbirk is also one of the biggest suppliers to Future group’s latest retail venture Home Town.

At present, Mr Biyani’s Pantaloon Retail operates multiple retail formats in both the value and lifestyle segments. The company operates over 5 million sq ft of retail space and has over 350 stores across 40 cities in India. The company’s leading formats include Pantaloons in the fashion retail segment, Big Bazaar in the hypermarket segment, Food Bazaar a supermarket chain and Central, a chain of destination malls. Some other formats of the Future group include Depot, Shoe Factory, Brand Factory, Blue Sky, Fashion Station, aLL, Top 10, mBazaar and Star and Sitara.

(Source: Economic Times)