Mallya goes in for luxury retailing at Bangalore
10 Nov 2007
Bangalore: Vijay Mallya''s UB Group has announced plans for a new venture in high-end retail.
The UB Group is the world''s third-largest maker of alcoholic spirits, and will have a 55 per cent stake in UB City - the Collection, an exclusive destination in Bangalore that will retail luxury brands.
French fashion designer Louis Vuitton will be an anchor tenant of the mall, which will be located at 1, Vittal Mallya Road, due to open in early 2008.
Venetian-styled, the project will house a 250-room JW Marriot hotel, serviced apartments managed by Oakwood Premium, and office space already leased to Citigroup, Toyota, ABN Amro, Jones Lang LaSalle, 3M, Ernst and Young (E&Y) and Yahoo!. It will also house food and beverage outlets, and the Kingfisher Sports Bar.
The property group Prestige will hold the remaining 45-per cent stake in the venture. Irfan Razack, chairman and managing director of Prestige said the project has "been purely driven by the vision of Mallya, who calls it a value proposition", and an opportunity to tap high-net worth individuals. Razack said the mall will be an iconic landmark of Bangalore, "like what the Petronas Towers is to Kuala Lumpur." He estimated the project cost at around Rs300 crore.
Other brands to have signed up for space within the 1.5 million sq ft complex include Gucci, Fendi, Mont Blanc, Van Cleef and Arpels, Zegna, Rolex and Omega.
Luxury retail in India is estimated at Rs1,500 crore, and is estimated to double in the next five years.