ABFRL to create platform for Direct to Consumer (D2C) business; charts ambitious path to build India's largest portfolio of digital-first fashion & lifestyle brands

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL), India's leading fashion company, today announced its plans to set up a platform for foraying into the Direct to Consumer (D2C) business. The Board of directors of the Company in their meeting today provided an omnibus approval to set up a new subsidiary towards building a portfolio of distinct, new-age, digital brands across categories in fashion, beauty and other allied lifestyle segments.  The D2C portfolio will be built through organic and inorganic means. This venture will initially be funded through ABFRL's internal accruals. At an appropriate time, the company will look to bring in external capital to accelerate the growth journey. The D2C market opportunity in India is expected to be $100bn by 2025.

The newly incorporated entity will organically incubate and also acquire promising and scalable D2C brands. Other than providing growth capital, ABFRL's proposition is built around its strong operational expertise where it will utilize its rich experience and capabilities to scale up this portfolio.

Commenting on the move, Mr. Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director, ABFRL said, "We are excited about the D2C opportunity in India. At ABFRL, we want to build the next set of iconic brands in the digital space as we evolve with our changing consumers. Leveraging our core capabilities around design, product creation, sourcing and brand building that have enabled us to create some of India's most loved fashion brands in the offline space, we now wish to craft a blockbuster portfolio in the digital space as well. We are confident that this foray will successfully meet the aspirations of digitally native customers and also create long-term value for investors and other stakeholders."

The company will now accelerate the process of building the D2C framework and identifying key talent for this play.  ABFRL will look to tap into the broader tech ecosystem and collaborate effectively with its ecommerce partners, tech service providers, digital marketing agencies to scale this business rapidly.

About Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited

ABFRL is part of a leading Indian conglomerate, The Aditya Birla Group. With revenue of Rs. 5,249 Cr. spanning retail space of 8.4 million sq. ft. (as on March 31, 2021), it is India's first billion-dollar pure-play fashion powerhouse with an elegant bouquet of leading fashion brands and retail formats.

The Company has a network of 3,370 stores across approximately 26,744 multi-brand outlets with 6,751+ point of sales in department stores across India (as on 31st December 2021).

It has a repertoire of leading brands such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England established for over 25 years. Pantaloons is one of India's largest fast fashion store brands.

The Company holds exclusive online and offline rights to the India network of California-based fast fashion brand Forever 21. The International Brands portfolio includes - The Collective, India's largest multi-brand retailer of international brands, Simon Carter and select brands such as American Eagle, Ralph Lauren, Hackett London, Ted Baker and Fred Perry.

Van Heusen Innerwear, Athleisure and Active wear is establishing itself as India's most innovative and fashionable brand. The Company's foray into branded ethnic wear business includes Tasva, Jaypore and strategic partnerships with Designers 'Shantanu & Nikhil', 'Tarun Tahiliani' and 'Sabyasachi'.