In an email interview, the Mumbai-based Devdutt Pattanaik spoke to redidff.com about his latest book on the Mahabharata and about what lessons the epic holds for today's times
When Kishore Biyani- led Future Group opened the 200,000 square feet Home Town store in Mumbai's Vikhroli early last year, it became a symbol of the group's giant-sized ambitions in home solutions.
Ventures in areas such as insurance, financial services and logistics valued at Rs 4,500-5,000 crore ; company in talks with PE giants KKR and JP Morgan.
The Raheja-owned Shoppers Stop, which was so far an up market department chain, is becoming a full service retailer soon. It is increasing its stake in the promoter group's hypermarket chain Hypercity from 19 per cent to 51 per cent.
The concern is that the scheme may not take off, like its precursor in the previous five-year plan.
The disclosure comes within days after Kishore Biyani-owned Pantaloon Retail said that same store sales in December dropped for the first time in four years. Analysts were more surprised at the drop in value retailing, which indicated that value retailers were not benefiting from downtrading.
Future Retail Ltd (FRL) on Wednesday held a meeting of its shareholders to consider and approve the sale of the company's retail assets to billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. The meeting was chaired by Shailesh Haribhakti, FRL said in a regulatory filing. Haribhakti has been appointed by the NCLT to chair the meeting. The result of the voting will be announced in due course, it added.
Starbucks Coffee International, the world's biggest coffee chain is finally entering India.
Kishore Biyani's Future Group is getting its act together on supplying its private labels outside the group's 1,000-odd outlets, even as Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail has already marched ahead by starting to sell some of its private brands to kiranawalas (independent stores).
Consumer durables major Videocon and Kishore Biyani's Future group have entered into an agreement to source consumer durables.
At the moment Concor, a public sector company controlled by the railways, has a monopoly in running container trains across the country. It offers ferrying rates to carry containers that are one-third of that on roads.
The head of Pantaloon, India 's leading retailer, has warned that high property prices in big Indian cities are threatening the country's burgeoning retail industry and adding to the pressures brought on by soaring construction and labour costs
VMIL officials declined to comment on the development. According to sources close to the development, VMIL will sell stake to raise money for expanding Hungama, the content and mobile services arm. The Mumbai-based company has already held two to three rounds of meetings with these private equity investors. The company's valuation has been pegged at Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion). The funds raised would be used for Hungama's expansion.
The JV will be set up in about 8-10 cities, including Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Indore, Jaipur, Pune, Delhi and Mumbai. The investment is expected to provide significant synergies to the Future Group, which has a large advertisement budget and aligns well with the group's businesses such as Future Media, which has interests in media and advertising.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from Future Retail Ltd and others on Amazon's plea against the Delhi high court direction to maintain status quo on the Future-Reliance deal. Kishore Biyani and others and sought their replies. The apex court said the proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal will go on and but will not culminate into any final order on amalgamation of FRL with Reliance.
Future Capital Holdings has decided to venture into the hedge fund business in the next three months.
The company obtained its shareholders' approval for its plans in the extraordinary general meeting held on Tuesday. This is the second time the Kishore Biyani-led Pantaloon is using the QIP route to raise money. The first time was three years ago, when the company raised Rs 260 crore (Rs 2.6 billion) by selling shares to institutions in 2006.
Portal to be launched in three months, says Future Group's Kishore Biyani
Consider this: Kishore Biyani's Future Group, which owns the country's largest retailer Pantaloon, is converting the standalone stores of book and music chain Depot into shop-in-shops within Big Bazaar. While the number of Depot shop-in-shops has risen to 123, that of standalone stores has come down to nine. Same with UK-based footwear brand Lee Cooper.
R C Agarwal, promoter of beleaguered Vishal Retail, on Wednesday came out in support of the offer from Texas Pacific Group (TPG) in preference to that from Kishore Biyani's Future Group.
Vaidyanathan, former managing director and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, as a sign-on bonus got 20 lakh (2 million) warrants worth Rs 47.40 crore (Rs 474 million), DNA said.
Vaidyanathan's compensation is 'a performance-linked booty'.
Indian retailers put cash & carry on backburner
Payback India has 10 million members now.
According to sources in the Future Group, it plans to tie up with international retailers in different segments. "We can certainly look at bringing in foreign capital to our subsidiaries now," said a group official, who did not wish to be quoted. Under the new guidelines, downstream investments by an Indian company that has foreign investment but is owned and controlled by Indians will not be considered as FDI.
Kishore Biyani, founder and CEO of the Future Group, has emerged as the largest and perhaps the most successful retailer in India. Here he looks back at successes, failures and other defining moments in his entrepreneurial life.
Battling back spasms and forgettable batting form, he led fellow warriors to do a miracle in the middle.
The venture, on the lines of Kishore Biyani's Future Ventures India, will focus its investments in the information technology sector, said a source familiar with the development.
India's retail giants, including Kishore Biyani's Future Group, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail and Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti group, have started negotiations with the railways for leasing land for retail development.
Yesterday, we carried the tale of a reader's unpleasant shopping experience and invited you to write in with yours. Here is the first set of responses we've received!
L&T is planning a foray in PE fund in the real estate market with a Rs 4500 crore fund.
Future Capital Holding disclosed its plans to enter asset management and retail broking. A credit card tie up with ICICI bank is also in the pipeline.
'The idea of modern retail is to drive consumption and grow the economy. If international retailers can do that and add new categories, why not?' asks Kishore Bayani of the Future Group.
Though the exact amount of stake dilution is not known, Pantaloon Retail's Managing Director Kishore Biyani said the company would divest more than 20 per cent shares. Future Ventures will house the company's JVs and new ventures.
International coffee chain Starbucks will send a revised application to the department of industrial policy and promotion for an entry into the Indian market.
Future group promoter Kishore Biyani's stake fell consistently across group companies since December 2019 after American retail major Amazon infused funds in a Future group promoter entity and the group companies started showing signs of financial distress due to closure of stores due to Covid-19 pandemic. As lenders take Future group companies to the bankruptcy courts to recover their dues under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the shareholders of Future group companies are staring at complete wipeout of their investments as secured lenders get top priority in any potential recovery, say lawyers. "The fate of all Future group shareholders is now sealed with them looking at a complete loss.
Confrontational advertising has become the order of the day in India with corporate houses taking on rivals head-on.
The potential of India's retail sector may be huge and growing, but soaring rentals, salaries and interest rates could make the journey a bumpy ride for retailers in the near term.
