After Forever and Sephora walking out of DLF Brands, the company is on the verge of losing its another prominent franchisee, Mango. The speculations suggest that Mango has been chalking plans to merge its Indian operations with its other partner Major Brands India Pvt. Ltd.
Mango has tied up with DLF Brands in 2011 and as a part of the pact, DLF was supposed to expand the market presence of Mango in India. Over the past five years, DLF has opened around nine stores across the country. Mango has been present in the country since 2001 with Major Brands, which also has nine stores.
A source close to the development revealed that DLF didn't deliver what they have been signed for which triggered Mango to give a second thought on the pact. On the other hand, Major Brands is on the spree of giving more valuable options to Mango apart from ramping its presence through almost doubling its store count in the country.
However, an email sent to Timmy Sharma, MD, DLF Brands didn't elicit any response and even Major Brands decline to comment anything on the issue. In July, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd acquired the global clothing brand Forever 21 in the Indian market from DLF Brands for US $26 million (around Rs175.52 crore).“This business is growing at 30-40 per cent per annum,” said Pranab Barua, business director (retail & apparel) at Aditya Birla Group. He added that by 2020, the brand will have revenues of Rs 1,000 crore, up from Rs 250 crore at the time of acquisition.
In September 2015, Ahmedabad-based apparel maker Arvind Ltd took over the franchise of Sephora, part of French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, from DLF Brands. Since then, Arvind Brands has more than doubled the number of stores.
