Reliance Acquires Majority Stake in Ritu Kumar’s Fashion Label after a deal with Manish Malhotra

27 October 2021: Reliance Retail has acquired majority stake by buying out the 35% stake held by Everstone Capital in India’s Ritika (P) Ltd. the company that owns Ritu Kumar brands.

“We are looking at the top 20 million customers in India. Not 1.3 billion. The discretionary wallet spend on products of the top 20 million customers is what we remain focused on,” Darshan Mehta, CEO of Reliance Brands, which manages such luxury partnerships for the group, told Reuters in an interview.

Ritu Kumar – best known for her ethnic designs – runs her flagship namesake brand, with her list of customers including top Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra.

Recently, Reliance bought a 40% stake in a fashion house run by Indian designer, Manish Malhotra. And in January, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail bought a 51% stake in the Sabyasachi brand, best known for its high-end wedding wear.

After being battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s retail and luxury market is making a comeback. With high pent-up demand, Darshan said India’s ongoing festive season is “possibly going to be the finest” as consumption will surge in the next four to five months.

Reliance Retail, the country’s biggest retailer run by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, also has partnerships with global brands such as Burberry and Jimmy Choo through joint ventures and franchises.