V-Mart Retail to acquire Unlimited fashion retail stores from Arvind Fashions

Indian fashion retailer V-Mart Retail Ltd. has agreed to acquire all of the existing operating stores of Unlimited from Arvind Lifestyle Brands Ltd (ALBL), a fully-owned subsidiary of Arvind Fashions in an all-cash deal.

Unlimited is currently running a chain of 74 fashion retail stores in South and West India that sell fashion apparel and accessories for men, women, and children.

As part of the deal, V-Mart Retail will purchase the assets of all Unlimited stores, warehouse, inventory along with the Unlimited store brand for nearly INR 150 crores at closing.

Arvind Lifestyle Brands will also be entitled to payments based on achieving certain milestones in the stores over the next few years, after the acquisition.

Shailesh Chaturvedi – CEO of Arvind Fashions said: “We are delighted to find a strong home in V-Mart for Unlimited. We had created a scalable format with significant product capabilities in value retail, which has a large potential.

“However, in line with our strategy of focusing on our 6 high conviction brands, we decided to exit the business. This would help us put capital behind growing our six focus brands, helping generate significant shareholder value.”

The deal enables V-Mart Retail to foray into South India. Besides, the acquisition of Unlimited stores aligns well with the cluster-based expansion strategy of V-Mart Retail, while drastically reducing the time-span needed for the geographical expansion of this kind in a new big market.

Lalit Agarwal – Chairman and Managing Director of V-Mart Retail said: “V-Mart is one of the strongest players in northern & eastern India and is a leading value retail player for the masses in the fashion segment, primarily operating in Tier 2, 3 cities. We have always believed in cluster philosophy and as we were not present in the southern India & as being the focused value retailer we can strive to do better- this has compelled & motivated us to grab this opportunity.

“We are proud to bring the ‘Unlimited’ stores within the umbrella of V-Mart family, which was part of Arvind Fashions. With this acquisition, we will have another 74 stores in our portfolio for catering to the fashion needs of families in the southern and western markets of India. At V-Mart we have been opening around 50 stores every year, and look forward to maintaining this growth trajectory in the times to come.”

The closing of the deal will be subject to the required approvals and customary closing conditions.