Future Group to buy grocery chain Big Apple for Rs61.4 crore
21 Sep 2012
Taking advantage of the Indian government's newly announced policy of allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, the Kishore Biyani-led Future Group yesterday said that it would acquire operator of grocery chain Express Retail Services, the parent of Big Apple store, for Rs61.4 crore.
The acquisition comes a month after Future Group firm Pantaloon Retail (India) merged its wholly owned subsidiary Future Value Retail, which operates Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar stores, with itself.
Post acquisition, Express Retail will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Future Ventures India Ltd (FVIL), a part of Future Group that runs chains of large discount department stores.
The acquisition will help FVIL to expand its foothold in the convenience store format in NCR region where it already operates 100 KB's Fair Price stores.
Delhi-based Express Retail operates 65 stores selling more than 9,000 products, including vegetables, fruits and grocery in the Delhi / NCR region. The debt-free company generates annual sales of around Rs120 crore.
Big Apple has direct tie-up with farmers in Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and supplies quality products to its customers, according to the company website.
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