Debenhams, Nautica and Next has been acquired by Arvind Lifestyle.

In a major announcement, Arvind Lifestyle Brands will be acquiring the business operations of British fashion retailers Debenhams and Next, along with American Lifestyle Brand Nautica in India from Planet Retail.

According to Sanjay Lalbhai, Chairman and Managing Director of Arvind Limited, the acquisition is a significant milestone as it signals the company’s entry into the Department Store Segment and also the globally fast growing apparel specialty retail segment. “American Sportswear Lifestyle Brand Nautica makes us the dominant player in the sportswear segment. With this move, we have taken a big step towards strengthening our position in the Indian fashion industry,” he added.

With Debenhams, Arvind will enter into the bridge to the luxury department store segment. The company is nursing plans of increasing the number of Debenham stores in the country from the exiting 2 to 8. A Debenham spokesperson went ahead to add. “I’m very excited by the new chapter to be written together with Arvind, who are a very solid and experienced retail group with a fantastic reputation.”

The other major acquisition, Next, will help Arvind enter the fast growing segment of apparel speciality retail and is targeting increasing the number of Next stores from 3 to 12 in the next three years. A spokesperson from Next said that the brand is positive about the new franchise partnership and is looking forward to Arvind Brands re-launching the Next brand in the country.

As far as Nautica is concerned, it will help the company to strengthen its existing position in the sportswear segment. To leverage this opportunity, Arvind plans to add 30 more Nautica stores in the next three years.
“As we continue to grow our brand footprint internationally with our licensed operators around the globe, we look to Arvind with their significant expertise in brand building in India, to grow Nautica’s presence in this important emerging market,” added Maria Vicari, President of Global Licensing, Nautica Apparel.

Speaking on the acquisition, J Suresh, Managing Director and CEO, Arvind Lifestyle Brands said, “We have a strong menswear portfolio, which will get further strengthened with Nautica. Debenhams & Next will substantially strengthen our position in Womenswear and Kidswear segment. We plan to achieve Rs. 500 crore revenue over next five years from current Rs. 70 crore by investing Rs. 150 crore in to these three brands.”

Arvind is targeting revenues of Rs. 5,000 crore from its brands & retail businesses in the next five years. The acquisition of the business operations of Debenhams, Next and Nautica is the first endeavour by the company to cross the Rs. 2,000 crore revenue mark in the next five years.

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