Aditya Birla Reebok Partnership – Reebok Sports Brand: Aditya Birla Group will exclusively market, distribute & manufacture for the Reebok sports brand in India & South East Asian market. A joint press release by Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) and US-based Authentic Brands Group (ABG) said the BSE-listed company has signed a “long-term licensing agreement.”
The deal “grants ABFRL exclusive rights to distribute and sell Reebok products through wholesale, ecommerce and Reebok branded retail stores in India and other ASEAN countries,” the statement said.
Aditya Birla Group acquires rights to distribute & manufacture Reebok sports brand in India
Aditya Birla Reebok Partnership – Reebok Sports Brand: The deal will mark ABFRL’s entry into the sportswear category which is growing at a rapid pace. This sportswear and athleisure segment is expected to grow at an annual rate of 14% to top $13 billion by 2024.
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“As Indians get more active, athletic and health-focused, their consumption of apparel and accessories is expected to increasingly change in line with these trends, providing an opportunity to build iconic brands of global repute,” said Ashish Dikshit, MD, ABFRL.
In India, Reebok posted a 26 percent fall in net revenue for FY21 to Rs 321 crore compared to FY20, according to business intelligence firm Tofler. The company reported a net profit of Rs 4.9 crore during the fiscal, a 93 percent decrease from the previous financial year. The company’s total expenses for fiscal 2021 were reported as Rs 315 crore, said Tofler.
Reebok currently operates about 180 outlets — all of them franchisee-run — and ABFRL plans to take the number of outlets to 500 in the next five years and is targeting ₹1,000 crore revenue
The sportswear bet
ABFRL, known for its lifestyle and formalwear brands such as Allen Solly, Louis Philippe, Peter England, Pantaloons and Van Heusen, has been on an acquisition spree of late and has bought several brands across fashion segments.
The company has shown a particularly keen interest in building its ethnicwear portfolio and acquired key designer labels.
In January this year, it acquired a 51 percent stake in bridal couture brand Sabyasachi, established by Kolkata-based designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, and later in February partnered with Tarun Tahiliani, taking a 33 percent holding in his men’s ethnicwear label house.
The retail major had also acquired Shantanu & Nikhil’s apparel brand Finesse in 2019.
Globally, Reebok has seen frequent ownership changes. In the latest such instance, sportswear major Adidas, which acquired the brand in 2006 to pit it against Nike, sold it to ABG in August this year after sluggish performance over the years.
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