The Hindu Business Line : Wadhwan group eyes southern market

Kolkata, July 2 Wadhawan Food Retail Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based retail chain stores company, is actively negotiating with a few companies for an acquisition to take its first bite into the southern market.

Mr Kapil Wadhwan, promoter-Director, confirmed to Business Line that the company has decided to enter the southern region through Bangalore.

“Bangalore would be our entry point for the region and the entry would be through the inorganic route. We are in talks with some possible outfits owning a number of outlets for a takeover. The final deal could be wrapped up within a couple of months,” he said.

The company has lately been on an expansion spree, adopting both organic and acquisition routes.

It has made three acquisitions in Mumbai and Delhi at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

Mr Wadhwan, however, refused to divulge the company’s war chest for the proposed acquisition in Bangalore.

In the case of the takeover in the Capital, the group outfit had acquired 67 per cent stake from the promoter of both Sabka Bazar and Home Store, while in Mumbai it acquired complete ownership of Sangam, a home delivery services company, from Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

It has also formed a business alliance with Maratha Stores in Mumbai for supplying food and grocery items.

“We have not acquired the popular retail chain, run by a co-operative,” he clarified.

The company is also extending its food and grocery branded retail chain format (with each store over a maximum of 7,000 sq ft) geographically to the east, through the organic route.

It is setting up the first ‘Spinach’ branded store in the region in Kolkata. The property has already been identified and the store is likely to come up during the current fiscal. “Bhubaneswar could be the second city of the region on our plate,” he said.