Flipkart invests Rs 260 cr for minority stake in Arvind Fashions subsidiary

Ecommerce firm Flipkart has invested Rs 260 crore (about $35 million) to acquire a significant minority stake in Arvind Youth Brands, a subsidiary of Arvind Fashions that owns the clothing brand Flying Machine. 

The companies will work collaboratively to identify opportunities to innovate and develop products with strong value propositions at attractive price points, a statement said.

“Through this investment, we look forward to partnering with the team at Arvind Youth Brands to continue to grow the market for its portfolio of products and enhance the strong brand equity that has been built over the past few decades,” Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart Group, said.

Flipkart and Myntra will be the preferred online partners for the Flying Machine brand, while it continues to grow its offline sales through exclusive brand, department and multi-brand stores, J Suresh, managing director and CEO of Arvind Fashions, said. Flying Machine products have been retailing on the ecommerce platforms for over six years now.

“The partnership with Flipkart Group will help us accelerate our online growth strategy as we focus our efforts on developing an omni-channel retail approach for Arvind Youth Brands and Flying Machine,” Suresh added.

Watch: Arvind CEO Suresh on how early investments in technology paid off during the Covid-19 crisis

Arvind Fashions, the branded apparel company, demerged from textile maker Arvind Group. It owns a diversified portfolio of brands, such as US Polo Assn, Arrow, GAP, Calvin Klein, Aeropostale and Ed Hardy. Arvind also runs the India business of beauty retailer Sephora and the value fashion retail chain Unlimited.

The Bengaluru-based firm recently deferred its plans to raise capital via a rights issue in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. On March 12, it approved raising Rs 300 crore in equity capital, but revised the amount to nearly Rs 400 crore last month.