VIJAY MALLYA FORAYING INTO LUXURY RETAIL SEGMENT
Bangalore, November 7, 2007 (IANS)

Indian business mogul Vijay Mallya has set his sights on the booming retail sector, especially the luxury segment - estimated to be around $2 billion currently and growing at 20% annually - with plans to sell products of international fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Mont Blanc and Dunhill. The first retail mall will be located in Mallya's UB City complex, coming up in the heart of India's silicon hub, with an upfront investment of Rs.3 billion ($76 million).

The UB City, a premium property in the central business district bang opposite the city's famous Cubbon Park, is a joint initiative of Mallya's holding firm and Prestige group, a leading property developer in Bangalore. UB Holding has 55 percent equity in the project, while Prestige holds the remaining 45 percent stake.

"The luxury retail showroom, christened The Collection will initially have 38 stores and 23 foreign and Indian brands. It will be opened during the first quarter of 2008 when the multibillion rupee UB City project gets completed," UB Global CEO Shashikanth told IANS.

Spread over 1.5 million sq ft, with an upper crust shopping plaza, the mega complex will also have a luxury hotel, deluxe serviced apartments, penthouses, offices, food courts, banks, pubs, beauty parlours and retail outlets. Among the 10 global brands, which have signed up with UB to set up their exclusive designer outlets, are Louis Vuitton and Mont Blanc of France, Gucci of Italy and Dunhill of Britain.

Prestige chairperson and managing director Irfan Razack Tuesday said the luxury retail foray, a brainchild of Mallya, will be a value proposition to the upcoming premium property in downtown Bangalore. "UB City is set to become a new landmark in the IT hub and will become as popular as Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Collection is aimed at drawing high net-worth individuals and the neo-rich geeks of the knowledge sector," Razack pointed out.

The Venetian-style complex will house a 250-room JW Marriot hotel and offices of multinationals such as Citigroup, Toyota, ABN Amro, 3M, Ernst & Young, and Yahoo! A recent study by global consulting firm McKinsey estimated that India's retail sector would quadruple to $1.5 trillion by 2025. "As a city with the highest number of billionaires in the country, Bangalore will be a launch pad for global luxury retail brands to showcase their products and hard sell them," Shashikant added.

According to the federation of Indian chamber of commerce (FICCI), the nascent luxury market in the subcontinent is estimated to be around $2 billion currently, growing at 20 percent annually, thanks to the nine percent GDP-driven economy.