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Boby Kurian

BANGALORE, Dec.17

FORBES Gokak Ltd, part of the $ 400-million Forbes Pallonji group, is betting big on the branded fashion apparel market.

It is likely to tap this business through the introduction of own labels in the near future or through brand acquisition.

Mr K.C. Mehra, Deputy Chairman & Managing Director of Forbes Gokak, said the company was poised to look at the fashion apparel market in a `significant' way. "We are a cash-rich entity. There is a great deal of churning within the company on this front," he said. This, perhaps, has something do with the fact that the group has identified textiles and apparel business as a key area for growth in the future, explained Mr Mehra.

He did not rule out the possibility of Forbes Gokak effecting acquisitions to enter the branded apparel market but added it would depend on the quality of offers that came by. The company was planning to take young minds on board for the attitudinal fix required to foray into the evolving and highly competitive fashion apparel retailing in the country. Currently, Forbes Gokak has diversified interests in engineering products, cotton and blended yarn, knitwear, shipping, freight forwarding and consumer durables.

Forbes Gokak's plans to dabble in the branded apparel market coincides with an ongoing consolidation which saw a few high-profile takeovers and alliances in the recent years. The A.V. Birla Group-managed Indian Rayon acquired Madura Garments two years ago, more recently Raymond snapped up ColorPlus and Bombay Dyeing concluded a strategic alliance with another apparel brand, Proline. Incidentally, the Mumbai-based fashion brand, Provogue, promoted by Acme Clothing , has announced plans to invite a strategic partner for growth indicating that further consolidation is in the offing.

In fact, Forbes Gokak already has had some experience in the premium apparel retailing industry following its association with Daks Simpson of the UK. In February this year, it started distributing and marketing Daks, which was earlier with Tata International. Mr Mehra said a formal agreement with Daks would be finalised only after the brand achieves a critical mass in the domestic market, which is expected by 2004. Daks, which commands a 15 to 20 per cent premium over the most expensive Indian rival, is currently retailed through exclusive boutiques in luxury hotels and shop-in-shops in upmarket multi-brand outlets such as Sehgal Brothers in Delhi and Ffolio in Bangalore.

Analysts said Forbes Gokak's move was yet another instance of forward integration attempted by a textile player. But they warned that the fashion apparel industry could boast of only a few successful crossovers with the exceptions being Raymond and Arvind Mills. "Raymond had the advantage of being already present in branded fabric retailing, while Arvind never looked at its apparel foray as forward integration," they added.

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