Pharma retail company Ranbaxy had announced in June that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with the Japanese pharma major for selling promoters stake in the company which was 34.82 per cent of the total equity capital of the company for around Rs 10,000 crore. After which Daiichi Sankyo also announced the launch of open offer for acquiring 20 per cent additional stake in the company from the shareholders as per the Securities and Exchange Board of India guidelines.

SRL, which has its main laboratories in New Delhi and Mumbai, reaches smaller cities through a franchise network that serves as sample collection centers. By integrating with Fortis HealthWorld, SRL can increase its owned network using the drug retailer’s stores. Fortis and SRL are currently under the same management, as the chief executive of SRL, Sanjeev Choudhary, was given additional charge of the retail firm early this year. Fortis HealthWorld, which runs 43 stores mainly in northern India, announced last week a Rs14 crore buyout of pharmacy retail chain CRS Health, which has a presence in north, south and west India. This deal means Fortis HealthWorld acquires CRS’ 27 retail stores and four warehouses in the country.

“The drug retail company will also sign one, or two more retail chain acquisitions in the south, mainly to expand the chain to about 150 stores in the country this year,” said another person familiar with the development. “Its (Fortis) current focus is to expand the business base, which will in turn get added up in the combined retail business, including the diagnostics firm. The company may also tie up with a few well-known retail companies such as Reliance Fresh to expand its network in other parts of the country,” he added.

“In a dynamic and fast evolving retail sector, Bharti Retail’s association with IBM will provide a distinct competitive edge that will assist the company’s vision and growth plans,” Vinod Sawhny, president and chief operating officer, Bharti Retail Ltd. “This is a strategic win for IBM which is a testament to the trust Bharti places in IBM’s cross-industry capabilities. Our collaboration with Bharti goes back over four years and our joint commitment to innovation throughout our business relationship continues to pay off, “said Ashish Kumar, vice president, client services, IBM. He added that their goal was to provide Bharti Retail the support it needs to be a customer-focused retail enterprise that is committed to deliver high value services to their customers.

The Retail Jeweler India Award is considered the helm of judging the best in the Indian gem and jewellery industry, in terms of branding, marketing, products, design etc. This year, the competing companies included TBZ, CKC-Bangalore, Prince Jewellery, Joy Alukkas, GRT-Chennai, Notandas, Anmol, Mahesh Notandass, Minawala, Orra, Nirvana, Gili, Damas, P N Gadgil Hazoorilal, Punjab Jewelers and Punjabi Saraf, along with jewelers from Bhopal, Guwahati, Calcutta, Surat, Amristar, Pune etc. Participation at the awards included more than 300,000 retailers, 10,000 jewellery manufacturers/brand owners and leading 10 design schools of India.

“We have trained over 3,000 employees across 41 locations and 400 stores in the top 45 cities to help activate the iPhone. We have also trained a large number of our call centre executives who will help our customers activate the iPhone,” explains Bharti Airtel president for mobility Sanjay Kapoor. Mr Kapoor added that it would take customers about five minutes to activate the iPhone at Bharti’s retail outlets. Ditto to Vodafone, which has gone a step further and even given appointments at its retail outlets to its customers who have booked the iPhone to help them activate and use the device.

Industry observers believe that the company has expanded very fast and has managed to set up over 600 stores across various retail formats in less than two years, but its supply chain is in a mess. “How to get the right merchandise to the stores on time has been its biggest problem. You’d often not find the goods you want in Reliance’s food and grocery outlets,” said a source.

Under the JV, RIL and Vornado Realty Trust would commit up to $250 million each to acquire, develop and operate retail shopping centers across key cities in India. “The shopping centers will contain 500,000 to 1,000,000 or more square feet and typically be anchored by a hypermarket to be owned and operated by Reliance, Vornado said. Vornado has an aggregate investment in other India joint ventures of approximately $91 million and capital commitments to these ventures of an additional $92 million. Vornado’s other real estate investments include 32.8 per cent interest in Alexander’s Inc, 32.7 per cent interest in Toys “R” Us and Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. Total real estate owned or managed, including pro-rata share of partially-owned entities and joint ventures, is over 100 million square feet, including Vornado’s 16 million square feet of Toys “R” Us real estate.

The joint venture is going to be one of the biggest retail investments in India.

This is the most viable option for foreign retailers wanting to enter India as Indian government does not allow foreign direct investment in direct-to-consumer retail that sells many brands and products. Those who know the culture of both Tesco and Wal-Mart says that they complement each other. Both are conservative companies who tread cautiously. They wouldn’t make gigantic plans which would be difficult to follow later. Both would take one step at a time, given the low consumer sentiments and still-high real estate prices.

One of the reasons why Tesco couldn’t work out a deal with Bharti was because the two couldn’t agree on common milestones. Tesco wanted to follow a more conservative approach; Bharti wanted a rapid expansion of retail. The latter signed on Wal-Mart subsequently.