Pantaloons may have to exit Select Citywalk Mall

Aditya Birla Nuvo may have to give up one of the most

prestigious Pantaloons outlets in Delhi’s Select Citywalk Mall. Reason: the mall owner has filed a case against transfer of the shop to the AV Birla Group company as part of its buyout of the retail chain. Select Infrastructure, the owner of the popular South Delhi mall, has approached the Bombay High Court pleading that the 25,000 square foot space it leased to Kishore Biyani’s Pantaloon Retail is not transferable to any other party.

Pantaloons had leased the space in Select Citywalk when the mall opened for business in 2007. The nine-year-old lease expires in 2016. And like many other malls, even Select Citywalk Mall wants to welcome one of the international brands by kicking out its anchor tenant. Select Infrastructure has accused Pantaloon Retail of keeping the mall owner ‘out of the loop’ on the sell-off of Pantaloons department store chain to Aditya Birla Nuvo and the chain’s proposed merger with Peter England Fashions & Retail.

The Bombay High Court, while hearing the case on April 5, has asked Select Infrastructure to make Peter England Fashions, the Aditya Birla Nuvo unit that is merging Pantaloons’ assets with itself, also as a respondent party to the case and to file an amended application before the next date of hearing on April 17.