Retail Covert Ops Arvind Ltd to benefit from demand in brand and retail division The Economic Times:

Sep 23, 2012 In the last six months, thanks to the conscious and limited buying by consumers, investors' interest in the companies at the high end of textile industry's value chain has been very low. The stocks of branded-apparel companies such as Arvind, and Skumars Nationwide have plunged by 41 and 14.8% respectively in the last six months as against a meagre fall of 9% in the ET Textile index. However, recent brokerage reports suggest that the growth momentum for the branded apparel company Arvind has revived in the September 2012 quarter with its branding and retailing division witnessing strong demand. A recent report by Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities in its meeting Arvind's management has upgraded its recommendation on the company's stock to Rs97 from its present market price of Rs74. This optimism of the brokerage comes from the strong operating margins of the brand and retail division of the company. Arvind acquires India operations of Debenhams, Next, Nautica Business Standard: Sep 28, 2012 Arvind Lifestyle Brands, a subsidiary of the Ahmedabad-based denim major Arvind, has acquired the business operations of British fashion retailers Debenhams, Next and American lifestyle brand Nautica in India from Planet Retail. The company termed the acquisition of Debenhams as significant mainly because it gives Arvind an entry into the luxury department store segment. Arvind plans to increase the current number of Debenhams stores in India from two to eight over the next three years. While through acquisition of Indian businesses of Next, Arvind will enter the fastgrowing segment of the apparel specialty retail. It plans to increase the number of Next stores from three to 12 in the next three years.

Arvind Life sets aside Rs 80 cr for store expansion Deccan Herald: Sep 27, 2012 Continuing its aggressive expansion in the retail format over the past few years, Arvind Lifestyle Brands, the flagship of $1.2-billion apparel retail major Arvind Ltd, will invest upto Rs 80 crore to set up 100-150 new stores this year. Suresh J, managing director and chief executive, Arvind Lifestyle Brands, said on Thursday that the company has been operating across the retail value chain through its Megamart stores and licensing agreements for brands like Flying Machine, iZod and the US Polo Association. Arvind mills launch of Flying Machine, Elle in Africa, West Asia Business Standard: Sep 27, 2012 Arvind Ltd is looking at launching its fashion brand Flying Machine and French brand Elle in Afican countries and Middle East, said a senior executive of the company. While Flying Machine is owned by Arvind, the company has licence agreement with Elle.

The success of its apparel brand Arrow has given it the confidence to launch more brands from its stable. The company has launched Arrow in Zimbabwe, South Africa in department stores such as Strata 4, Craig and other exclusive brand outlets. In the Middle East, it sells in countries such as UAE, Kuwait and Jordan among others. Planet Retail to sell apparel brands to Arvind Business Standard: Sep 13, 2012 Ramesh Tainwala-led Planet Retail has decided to completely exit the rights for apparel brands Nautica, Next, and Debenhams. The company is said to have sealed a deal to sell them to textile and apparel major Arvind. According to sources, Tainwala was not able to give enough attention to these brands. Earlier, he gave up rights of the US brand Guess to Major Brands, which markets Mango and Aldo in India. Tainwala had bought a 48.5 per cent stake in Planet Retail last year. He is also the president, Asia-Pacific and West Asia, of luggage maker Samsonite. Tainwala has 40 per cent stake in the joint venture with Samsonite for its South Asia business. He would focus on the accessories brands he currently holds such as Accessorize and Lavie and skincare chain The Body Shop. The company is also bringing UK brand Monsoon Accessorize and extending Lavie to include footwear soon. PEST Analysis Political By analysing the news about Arvind Lifestyle Brands, we can notice a large amount of expansion happening nationally and internationally. They are planning to set aside 80 cr for store expansion as part of its aggressive expansion to set up 100-150 stores this year. The decision of the firm to expand happened while competition from multinationals were expected due to the governments decision regarding FDI. The stability of the government is another factor while analysing the strategy of the firm because stability of government is very low because of their shallow relationship with alliance parties and it may lead to sudden change in policies and decisions. Foreign majors such as Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour are ready to enter India. The UPA government has already permitted 51 percent FDI in Single-brand products without consulting its allies and it is expected that slowly but steadily the government will achieve its goal. Economical The strategy for expansion can be connected to the current economic situations in India. Investment bank CLSA expects the retail sector in India will grow at a compounded annual rate of 12% over the next five years, with hypermarkets and fast food outlets growing faster than the overall market, so it is a good strategy to make expansion plans. Company is planning to invest 80 cr for expansion which will generate employment opportunities for various peoples both in middle as well as lower level categories. Social The consumer behaviour in India is changing rapidly as time progresses, unlike olden times people are giving importance to brands and shopping experience. Its a revolution thats fast changing the way of life for millions of shopping crazy citizens in India. From the days of mama-papa stores at the local marketplace, cities are now metamorphosing into the land of upscale shopping centres and malls, much on the lines of Singapore and Dubai. These changes and emergence of mall culture point to the growing importance for brands and the strategy of Arvind lifestyle Brands can be seen as part of it. The vision and values of the firm states that they will enable people to experience a better quality of life by providing enriching and inspiring lifestyle solutions. The vision and values will suit the Indian context. Arvind involves its participation in works that contribute to the betterment of society. Arvinds

CSR philosophy is based on the notion that society and the corporation are inextricably linked, and that a company can improve its own functioning by influencing the environment in which it operates. It is this philosophy that transcends through all of Arvinds CSR initiatives. Technological Arvind has a strong focus on Research and Development for process improvement, cost reduction and new product development. This is evident in the fact that Arvind continuously modifies its production process to enhance flexibility on the use of various types and quality of cotton. To further meet customer needs, Arvind has also introduced a new dyeing and processing method for denims. State-of-the-art technology and equipment have made Arvind one of the leading producers of denim in the world, paving the way for the Company to emerge as a global textile conglomerate. This cutting edge position comes to Arvind courtesy technologies such as Open-end Spinning, Foam Finishing, Mercerizing, Slasher-dyeing, Rope-dyeing, Air-Jet, Projectile and Wet Finishing. Its only natural that Arvind quality fabrics are in high demand in the markets of Europe, US, West Asia, the Far East and Asia Pacific.