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Ramesh Tainwala-led Planet Retail, will completely exit the rights for apparel brands Nautica, Next, and Debenhams, which it holds. The company has finalised a deal to sell them to textile and apparel major Arvind. An announcement on this is expected in three to four days, said a source in the know.
Though Tainwala did not mention Arvind, he said he was currently in talks with a “friend” who has the capability to absorb the brands and provide it with backward integration support.
Sanjay Lalbhai, chairman and managing director of Arvind, declined to comment.
Earlier, Tainwala gave up rights of the US brand Guess in favour of Major Brands, which markets Mango, Aldo and so on.
"It is a business that I don't understand,” said chairman Tainwala, who bought a 48.5 per cent stake in Planet Retail last year. He is also the president, Asia-Pacific and West Asia, of luggage maker Samsonite. Tainwala has 40 per cent stake in the joint venture with Samsonite for its South Asia business.
As for the apparel brands, Planet Retail holds only the licensing rights. This makes it difficult for the company to align the product mix with the Indian market. For instance, the size requirements of Indian consumers vary greatly from those supplied by the brands. And in the absence of local sourcing, there is no clear resolution to the issue.
"All the three brands are doing business. It could be that Tainwala thinks he can not spend time on them," said a company source. While Debenhams has three stores, Next also has a couple of them in the country.