Mandhana Industries set to demerge retail business

Mumbai-based Mandhana Industries is in talks with private equity investors to offload a 5-10 per cent in the retail business. The company is in the process of demerging its retail business that will be known as Mandhana Retail Ventures. In order to build its licensed brand of Being Human, which is pegged in the mid to premium segment in the apparels category, Mandhana plans to host road shows to get PE investors on board. Mandhana Industries is already a listed company with a turnover of Rs 1,400 crore. In the next few weeks, the company wishes to demerge and list the retail operations under a new name.

Mandhana Industries, which has traditionally been in the business of textiles, entered the retail business after it got the licence for the Being Human brand from the Salman Khan Foundation. The demerged retail company will have a turnover of Rs 250 crores which is also the current size of the four-year-old Being Human brand. MD Manish Mandhana believes the demerger should help them get better valuation for the retail business and since they have to grow the business, they would seek funds from PE players. Currently the retail business is growing at 35-40 per cent. Being Human has 700 shops in shops and 60 exclusive stores, and has also entered the international market. With competition increasing in the apparel industry with the entry of international brands, Being Human expects to increase its footprint in smaller cities.