Aditya Birla Fashion looks to acquire American Eagle rights for India

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Aug 7, 2017

Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Limited (ABFRL) is planning to get into an exclusive partnership with US fashion brand American Eagle Outfitters to acquire the rights and sell the brand in the country.

Aditya Birla Fashion is in an advanced stage of talks with American Eagle Outfitters to open standalone outlets and online stores of the US fashion brand, the Economic Times reported quoting sources.
 
ABFRL had reported a growth of 25 per cent in revenue for the first quarter (Q1) of FY 2018 compared to Q1 FY17. Its fast fashion segment revenues tripled in April-June 2017 quarter due to addition of Forever 21, while other businesses grew by 63 per cent.

Recently, there were reports that American Eagle Outfitters is planning to exit the UK market as it shut all three stores there due to lack of profitability. It looks like the American brand is now turning its attention to the booming fashion market in India.
 
On the other hand, with competition rising in the lucrative fashion market in India, Aditya Birla Fashion is also looking to expand its portfolio by adding international labels to compete with fast fashion brands like Zara, H&M and GAP, which are rapidly expanding and eating into the market share of Indian fashion companies with lower pricing and marketing strategies.

Aditya Birla Fashion owns various brands including Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Pantaloons department stores, among other labels. Last year it also acquired exclusive online and offline rights to market the global brand, Forever 21. Its international portfolio also includes the UK’s famous fashion brands Simon Carter and Ted Baker.
 
ABFRL altogether has over 7000 points of sale across over 375 cities and towns in India, which include more than 2,000 exclusive ABFRL brand outlets.
 
American Eagle operates around 1,000 stores in the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, China, Japan and several countries in the Middle East.