Jaimin Gupta, the founder of men’s fashion brand Barcelona, along with other investors have acquired a majority stake in Gujarat based Aarvee Denims and Exports.
Last week, Aarvee said it has approved the execution of the share purchase agreement for selling 1.42 crore shares to Jaimin Gupta along with Tarachand Agrawal and Qmin Industries The deal also triggered an obligation on the acquirers to make an open offer to the public shareholders of the company to acquire additional stake.
“The open offer is being made by the acquirer along with the Person Acting in Concert (PACs) for acquisition of up to 60.99 lakhs shares, constituting 26% ol the equity share capital of the target company, at a price of Rs41 per share,” it said in a BSE filing.
Aarvee Denims and Exports, a debt ridden firm, has an production capacity of 85 million meters per annum and had sales of Rs91.33 crore in FY24, a significant decline from Rs751.56 crore in FY19. Barcelona, a men’s fashion and apparel brand, was founded in 2015 by Gupta, who has now acquired a 45% stake. Stitched Textiles Private Limited owns Barcelona that has over 125 franchise stores apart from its B2B app where the stock is sold wholesale to apparel retailers. The company has a monthly manufacturing capacity of 1.2 Million fabrics for suiting and shirting and 2.2 lakh garments manufacturing capacity in men’s wear.Overall retail sales growth rate in India across segments such as apparel, footwear and quick service restaurants (QSR) slowed to 4-7% year-on-year every month in FY24, reflecting comparatively weaker consumer sentiment.
As the world’s most populous nation, India is an attractive market for apparel brands, especially with youngsters increasingly embracing western-style clothing. But the market is also getting crowded as most global rivals from Zara and H&M to Uniqlo and Gap have set up shop in the country.
India is the also world’s second-largest exporter of textiles and apparel with a massive raw material and manufacturing base.
