Canali acquires 51% stake in Genesis

Italian luxury brand Canali has acquired 51 per cent stake

to form a joint venture with its Indian franchise, Genesis Luxury Fashion. Like most other international brands, who despite government’s nod to 100 per cent FDI in single-brand retail, continue to work with their Indian partners, Canali too has decided to stick to its earlier arrangement.

If global brands choose to venture out on their own, a higher shareholding would be required since it is mandatory to source 30 per cent of its products from Indian SMEs, defined as companies having a total investment in plant and machinery not exceeding $1 million.

Canali would be the first international luxury brand to invest in India post government’s decision to allow 100 per cent FDI. Genesis acts as a franchise for several global luxury brands and currently operates five Canali stores in India -- two in the National Capital Region, at the DLF Emporio Mall and at the Oberoi hotel in Gurgaon, and one each in Mumbai’s Palladium mall, Hyderabad’s Taj Krishna hotel and Bangalore’s UB City mall.

With CII-AT Kearney report predicting bright future for luxury market in India, which is estimated to be growing at 20 per cent per annum, global brands are increasingly looking at penetrating this lucrative segment.