The Hindu Business Line : HLL selling Sangam Direct to Wadhawan Foods

Mumbai April 4 Hindustan Lever Ltd today said it has decided to sell its home-delivery retail business — Sangam Direct — to the Mumbai-based Wadhawan Foods Retail Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

The dial-in-shopping service was set up in 2001 to experiment with the direct-to- consumer channel. The idea was to test market it in Mumbai before taking a decision to extend it across the country, the company said.

Sangam Direct operates under Unilever India Exports Ltd, a subsidiary of HLL.

"The decision for a larger rollout was put on hold in the context of evolving/changing retail scenario in the country. Although Project Sangam has met many of its business milestones successfully, the company believes that it is not in its strategic interest to continue to be present in this format of organised retail," the company said in a notice to the stock exchange.

Wadhawan Food Retail Pvt Ltd (WFRL) is currently present in Mumbai through its retail Food & Grocery store, Spinach, which manages about 23 outlets in the city.

The flagship Wadhawan group has diversified business interests including DHFL, a housing finance company.

The dial-in-shopping service of HLL is operated through a dedicated call centre with trained personnel for order procurement and a network of re-distribution agents.

The HLL scrip dropped by 1.05 per cent to close at Rs 197.75 on the BSE today.

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