ABFRL seeks to reposition Pantaloons

As it seeks to tap into one of the fastest growing retail segments in India that is currently driven by international fast fashion retailers such as H&M and Forever 21, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) is repositioning Pantaloons, acquired from Kishore Biyani as a fast fashion chain.

For Pantaloons, the change means designing closer to season, essentially crunching the time it takes for a product to hit the store to two-to-three months; more collections per year, perhaps four from the current two; and smaller stores starting at 2000 square feet (compared with the current 22,000 square feet large format department stores).

Besides, ABFRL has also said that it will acquire global clothing brand ‘Forever 21’ in the Indian market for around Rs.175.52 crores. Interestingly, the company executed a business transfer agreement with Diana Retail and DLF Brands on Tuesday for the acquisition of the business undertaking of Diana Retail under the Forever 21 brand and also through e-commerce channel on a going concern basis, in the Indian market, ABFRL said in a filing at the BSES.

Diana Retail is the franchisee of Forever 21 brand in India. Giving details of the transaction, ABFRL said, “The transaction involved the acquisition of the Forever 21 undertaking of Diana Retail with effect from July 1 through a business transfer agreement, not share transfer. In May, ABFRL had announced it would acquire online and offline rights for Forever 21 in India. The company is among the fastest growing fashion retailers with a network of more than 700 stores worldwide. Its India operations reported a turnover of Rs 262 crores in 2015-16.