Biyani starts afresh by bringing old biggies on board

Future Group owner Kishore Biyani is preparing

to make an aggressive comeback with reduced debt pressure after the demerger of fashion business and sale of insurance business. The buzz is, Pantaloon Retail's total debt will come down to around Rs 2,000-Rs 2,500 crores by the end of June quarter post the completion of both the transactions. And to make a fresh start, he is calling his old colleagues back. To begin with, Future Group has re-hired former Hometown CEO, Mahesh Shah back from Lifestyle to help turn around his loss-making furniture retail venture after Mark Ladham, President, home division of Future Group resigned.

The home retailing business of Future Group, comprising eZone and Home Town, posted a same-store sales growth (SSG) of -4.1 percent for the quarter ended March 2013. This was against -3.4 percent in the previous quarter and -3.5 percent in the quarter ended September 2012.

Mark Ladham, who used to work with home solution retailer B&Q in the UK, replaced Mahesh Shah in 2011 as president of Future Group’s home division, comprising Home Town, Furniture Bazaar and Home Bazaar. Meanwhile, Mahesh Shah replaced P Rajkumar at the Dubai-based Landmark groups’ home division, Home Centre, as president of its Indian home division.

Last year, Biyani sold majority stake in Pantaloon Retail to Aditya Birla Nuvo, which is about to conclude in the current quarter which will transfer debt of Rs 1,600 crores to the new entity. On the other hand, along with restructuring and realigning of the fashion business, he is looking at introducing new brands and an e-commerce play with the aim of making his Future Lifestyle & Fashion a one billion dollars (over 5,000 crores) unit within two years.