Reliance eyes 50% stake in GAS jeans

Italian fashion apparel maker, Grotto, best known for its

jeans brand GAS, is set to strike a strategic partnership with Reliance Brands, a unit of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries, in an attempt to revamp its India presence. Reliance Brands plans to acquire 50 per cent stake with management rights. The deal is said to be in the final stages.

GAS made its India debut in 2006 through Raymond and parted ways three years later. In 2010, GAS returned to the country through a completely owned cash-and-carry format, reaching customers through the franchisee route.

The GAS label, launched by Claudio Grotto in 1984, is the latest lifestyle brand to work out a plan to aggressively enter India. Many global brands including shoemaker Pavers England, which is present in India through a franchisee model, decided to operate as a 100 per cent retail outfit, sportswear brand Quiksilver plans to convert its licensing arrangement with Reliance Brands in to a 51: 49 JV, with the former holding the majority stake and many others.

GAS or Grotto Apparel Sportswear has few exclusive outlets and presence in department stores in the country as of now. Reliance Brands already operates about 60 stores for a slew of international fashion brands like Diesel, Kenneth Cole, Thomas Pink, Paul & Shark and Zegna among others.