Flipkart Invests INR 260 cr in Arvind Fashions Flipkart will pick a minority stake in the company's recently formed subsidiary Arvind Youth Brands that owns Flying Machine
By Shipra Singh
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Walmart-owned Flipkart has pumped INR 260 crore in the textile giant Arvind Fashions to pick a minority stake in the company's recently formed subsidiary Arvind Youth Brands.
Arvind Youth Brands owns Flying Machine, which has been retailing on the Flipkart Group platforms of Flipkart and Myntra for over six years.
Commenting on the same, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart Group said Flying Machine is a brand that is known in households across India. "Through this investment, we look forward to partnering with the team at Arvind Youth Brands to continue to grow the market for its portfolio of products and enhance the strong brand equity that has been built over the last few decades."
Soon after the announcement, shares of Arvind group shot up to trade at INR 178.10 on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), up by about 5 per cent from the previous day's close of INR 169.65.
Through this deal, the Flipkart Group and Arvind Fashions will work collaboratively to identify opportunities and synergies to innovate and develop products with strong value propositions at attractive price points, said the company statement.
"Given the strong existing relationship with the Flipkart Group, and their presence in online fashion, it was an obvious choice for us to enter into this engagement through which Flipkart and Myntra will be our preferred online partner for the Flying Machine brand, while we continue to grow our offline sales through channels like exclusive brand stores, department stores and multi-brand stores," said J. Suresh, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Arvind Fashions.
"The partnership with the Flipkart Group will help us accelerate our online growth strategy as we focus our efforts on developing an omni-channel retail approach for Arvind Youth Brands and Flying Machine," he added.
Arvind Group's portfolio comprises of renowned fashion brands, both international and indigenous, including US Polo Assn., Arrow, GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Flying Machine, Aeropostale, The Children's Place and Ed Hardy. It also has a presence in beauty retailer in partnership with Sephora and owns and runs a fashion retail chain, Unlimited.
