The Hindu Business Line : Spice Group buys Cellucom’s Indian arm

New Delhi, Feb. 2 The Spice Group has acquired a 100 per cent stake in the Indian arm of the Dubai-based mobile retail chain Cellucom in an all stock deal.

Cellucom will get a 26 per cent stake in Spice Group’s mobile retail venture HotSpot. The group plans to invest Rs 100 crore in the retail venture this year.

Cellucom was operating as joint venture with the RP Goenka Group (RPG) till last year. But RPG sold its 50 per cent stake to Cellucom late last year, for an estimated Rs 150-200 crore.

Cellucom’s product offering spans an entire set of mobile and IT products and the merger will further enhance HotSpot’s product line to include IT and related products along with the existing line of offerings.

HotSpot already has over 500 retail stores across the country; this along with Cellucom’s 120-plus retail stores.

“India is one of the biggest mobile consumer markets in the world, and our vision is to be a step ahead in addressing the needs of the mobile society. All our strategic initiatives are focussed towards delivering on our group vision,” Mr B.K. Modi, Chairman of the Spice Group, said.

Speaking on the acquisition, Mr Dilip Modi, Vice-Chairman, Spice Group, said: “The mobile and technology-product retail business in India is growing at a fast pace and holds tremendous potential.

“We expect this trend to continue and estimate the combined turnover for 2009 to be around Rs 1,000 crore. We will infuse another Rs 100 crore in the business this year to fuel growth plans and expand operations to over 100 cities across the country.”

The new entity, with a headcount of 2,500, will be led by Mr Sanjeev Mahajan as CEO.

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