Business - India;Reliance Brands forms JV with Italy's Diesel

Three months after calling off its tie-up with Arvind Brands, Italian fashion brand Diesel today announced a joint venture with Reliance Brands, an arm of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail.

Diesel International and Reliance Brands have signed a 51:49 MoU. The JV is likely to start operations in 2009 with opening of stores in Mumbai and New Delhi before expanding to other cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chandigarh, a release from Reliance Brands said.

After entering into a joint venture almost a year ago, Arvind and Diesel called off the project in June this year as the two firms agreed the agreement would restrict their future expansion plans in the country. Arvind and Diesel had a 51:49 joint venture, in which again, Diesel held majority stake, and they were planning to initially open stores in Mumbai and New Delhi.

“In Reliance Brands, we have found an ideal partner in size and management skills, and also a team of people with whom we perfectly align on all strategic plans about how to develop in the Indian market,” said Renzo Rosso, president and founder of Diesel, in a statement.

Darshan Mehta, president and chief executive, Reliance Brands, added, “This joint venture is one of the most important milestones for the company. It is an exciting prospect to offer the complete gamut of offerings of the brand in India, including Diesel’s cutting-edge in-store experience.”

Headquartered in Molvena, northern Italy, Diesel has its presence in 80 countries with 5,000 points of sale and more than 300 single brand stores.

Reliance Brands began operations in October 2007 with plans to build and launch national and foreign brands in the premium to luxury segments across apparel, footwear and lifestyle segments.

Reliance Retail, the retail arm of RIL, already has joint ventures with international players such as Marks & Spencer and Hamleys of UK, Apple Inc and Office Depot of the US among others.

Reliance Retail now operates more than 600 stores in 57 cities over a retail area of 3.5 million sq ft.