Reliance Brands in talks to buy Genesis Luxury

Reliance Brands, owned by India’s largest retail chain Reliance Retail, will buy Genesis Luxury, a group company of private equity fund Sequoia Capital-backed Genesis Colors, for an estimated Rs 450 crore. The acquisition will make Reliance a dominant player in the country’s booming luxury market, and give it an edge in bargaining for real estate concessions, overhead costs and other benefits. L Catterton, one of the early investors in Genesis Luxury, had picked up the 40 per cent stake in the firm over a period of six years for Rs 135 crore.

Genesis Luxury sells brands like Burberry, Canali, Paul Smith, Armani, Just Cavalli and Jimmy Choo. Reliance Brands, an arm of Reliance Retail, is one of the largest retail distributors for luxury and mass brands in India. The brands’s’ portfolio includes Amsterdam-based fashion brand Scotch & Soda and Kate Spade New York apart from partnerships with 18 global mid-to-luxury brands including Diesel, Hamleys, Steve Madden, Timberland, Kenneth Cole, Ermenegildo Zegna, and Paul & Sharks.