INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - JANUARY 1^st - JANUARY 15^th - 2008

KOUTONS RETAIL TO BUY 51% OF UPPER CLASS

KOUTONS Retail, a leading manufacturer of men's apparel, is acquiring a 51% stake in Delhibased brand Upper Class. Upper Class has a strong foothold in the ladies' apparel segment and is expected to compliment the existing brand portfolio of the Rs 800-crore company-Koutons and Charlie Outlaw-and its planned foray into women's apparel. Koutons, which was listed in October 2007, has a market capitalisation of over Rs 3,000 crore today.

Upper Class, promoted by Rajesh Sachdeva and his wife, Amita, specialises in casual bottom wear for women. The Rs 25-crore company has been exporting apparel to leading brands in Europe such as Armand Thiery, Class, F Ferra, Alcorpe English and is available in stores such as Splash and Lulu Center in the Middle East under its signature brand Upper Class. "We are looking at expanding our base in India and grow our business three folds through this deal," said Sachdeva. "We believe that this will also help Koutons expand into the global apparel market." Available across multi-brand outlets (MBOs) such as Globus, Piramyd, Shoppers' Stop and Pantaloons, Upper Class also has its own brand outlets in New Delhi, Jaipur, Ludhiana and Vadodara.

With its pan-India retail network and franchising experience, Koutons is also expected to grow the retail presence of Upper Class in the domestic market. Sachdeva said he's aiming to increase his brand's revenues to Rs 300 crore with the pan-India retail presence that the Koutons will bring to the arrangement. A senior official at Koutons said that the company is targeting 400 retail outlets for Upper Class by 2010 in addition to value adding on other areas such as procurement: "We will help Upper Class to procure merchandising from the domestic as well as international market at reasonable prices," he saids, adding, "We are looking at both, organic and inorganic growth."