Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) on Sunday announced purchase of 89 per cent equity stake in Clovia, an industry leader in the bridge-to-premium intimate wear category, with an investment of Rs 950 crore. RRVL will acquire a stake in Purple Panda Fashions, the company that owns and operates the Clovia business, through secondary stake purchase and primary investment, the joint statement said.
It states that the founding team and management will own the remaining stake in this company. RRVL has already bought Zivame and Amante brands. Now after buying stake in this company, RRVL will further strengthen its portfolio in the inner wear segment.
Clovia was launched in 2013 by Pankaj Varmani, Neha Kant and Suman Choudhary. Clovia is India’s leading bridge-to-premium D2C brand in inner wear and lounge wear for women. It has a strong customer base in the intimate wear space and the company offers well designed and styled intimate wear to the customers.
Commenting on the deal, Isha Ambani, Director, RRVL said, “Reliance has always been at the forefront of enhancing choices and offering the best value to the consumers. We are proud of our portfolio of style, quality, and quality products. and design-led intimate wear brand Clovia. We will work closely with the strong management team at Clovia to take this business to greater heights.”
Pankaj Varmani, Founder and CEO, Clovia, said, “Clovia is excited to be a part of the Reliance Retail family. Through this partnership, we will benefit from Reliance’s scale and retail expertise and expand the brand. Together we will create an intimate Offering world class quality, design and fashion rich products at great prices in the wear category, we look forward to make Clovia the most preferred brand in this category.”
RRVL is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd., trading in oil-to-chemicals. In November last year, RRVL had acquired the retail lingerie business under the brand ‘amante’ umbrella from MAS Brands, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sri Lanka-based MAS Holdings. It also bought a minor stake in Actoserba Active Wholesale, which owns online lingerie store Zivame.
Also in October, RRVL had bought a 52 per cent stake in Ritika Pvt Ltd, the firm of veteran couturier Ritu Kumar. Not only this, Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL) has also announced to buy 40 percent stake of renowned fashion designer Manish Malhotra in MM Styles Pvt Ltd.
(Disclaimer: Network 18 Media & Investment Ltd. is owned by Independent Media Trust. Its beneficiary company is Reliance Industries.)
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