Premature to talk about foreign tie-ups, says Biyani

With the government opening the doors for multinational chains like Wal-Mart, Tesco and others to set up shops in the domestic retail sector, the Future Group today said it is looking at strategic partnerships in its various businesses for growth and scale.

“We have many formats and we need to see how we can align in terms of strategic or financial partnerships,” Kishore Biyani, Chief Executive, Future Group said on the sidelines of the India Retail Forum here.

However, Biyani said it is too early to talk about specific partnerships.

“The sector needs money. We have understood the policy and understood how it is going to work. It is too early to talk about strategic partnerships now,” he said, and claimed that his company has the size and scale to attract foreign investments.

Last month, the government approved 51 per cent foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, while 100 per cent was already allowed in single brand retail.

Taking a cue from the global retail scenario, Biyani said foreign capital will also encourage more private equity players to invest in the sector.

Also, the retail consumption market which is at present about $ 400 billion and is expected to touch $1 trillion by 2020 will also attract PEs into the sector, he said.

“FDI will open up business opportunities and growth will mature. We will see a lot of PEs playing a major role now. We will see them investing in the sector,” he said.

The sector is expected to witness a lot of action, including mergers and acquisitions. “The retail environment will witness a change in the next six to seven months,” he said.

On the company’s strategy on restructuring its business to steer out through the slowdown, he said, “We are at the drawing board looking at various opportunities and options for many of our formats.”

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