Will help enhance retail presence
Acquisition brings in State – of –the- art manufacturing technology
New brands complement Gitanjali’s existing portfolio
Gitanjali Group, the world’s largest integrated branded jewellery retailer-manufacturer, has acquired two well known Indian jewellery brands, Nirvana and Viola through its subsidiary ‘Spectrum Jewellery Limited, adding to the vast spectrum of branded jewellery it offers to the Indian consumer.
Each of the brands has a well established presence in modern retail formats across the country and will complement Gitanjali’s existing portfolio of brands and enhance its retail presence.
Nirvana is a 15 year old diamond jewellery brand and is sold through over 106 shop-in shops across the country, particularly in the West and South which together account for 70% of its revenues. The brand also owns one stand alone store.
Nirvana, has its own manufacturing unit in Mumbai. The unit is technologically advanced and has significant scalability. The technological focus is on pressure setting and mystery setting of products and manufacture of light-weight jewellery. Special care is taken while manufacturing every piece of jewellery. The company realises that the wearer will be in close contact with the jewellery for hours at a stretch and that there could be potential health hazards. Nirvana therefore uses Nickel–safe and cadmium–free alloys.
Viola, which is relatively a younger brand, is present in 60 shop-in-shops mainly in the North and West. Viola jewellery is manufactured in a State – of –the- art plant, brought from Europe which is the only one of its kind in India. The new high-end distinctive technology enables an impeccable global quality finish which sets the brand apart. This technology enables Viola to make their pieces look much larger using lesser gold.
While the acquisitions will help Gitanjali Group to further expand its retail network and increase its market share in the organized retail space, Nirvana and Viola will receive a boost to their brand value from Gitanjali’s powerful marketing and distribution capabilities.
Gitanjali will transform these brands into retail chains and enhance their value by expanding their design and category base.
Mehul Choksi, CMD, Gitanjali Group said, “The acquisitions will help us expand the portfolio of brands we offer to consumers and deepen our penetration of the market. Over time, we aim to enhance the brand value of both Nirvana and Viola while transforming them into retail brands by exploring formats of own stores and franchisee stores.”
About Nirvana
Nirvana is a 15 yrs old brand with focus on daily wear jewellery and is targeted at working women between 20 – 45 years in Tier I and Tier II cities. Its product range consists primarily of rings, earrings and pendants at price points ranging from Rs. 25,000 to 30,000. The brand has an active design bank of 2,000 designs.
Nirvana has a strong geographic presence in the West and South and it derives 70% of its revenues from these regions. The brand brings with it a loyal workforce of 240 sales employees and 60 factory workers who have been with the brand for an average of around 5-7 years.
Nirvana also has developed consumer loyalty programmes such as the Nirvana Diamond Club. Nirvana possesses a strong ERP system which will further ease its integration with Gitanjali.
About Viola
Viola offers coloured stones and electro foaming Italian designs. It is available at leading departmental stores in North and West India and targets occasion wear and party wear with price points ranging from Rs. 30,000 – 50,000. The brand has 1000 active SKUs with a mix of enamel based products, coloured stones and other semi-precious and precious stones. The brand targets the middle and upper middle classes of society and has a strong presence in metros and other relevant catchment areas. Viola brings with it an employee base of 130 as well as a loyal consumer base and strong post sales support.
About Gitanjali
Gitanjali Group is the world’s largest integrated branded jewelry manufacturer -retailer with sales over $2.5 billion. Established in 1966, today its activities are spread across the entire value chain from rough diamond sourcing, cutting, polishing and distribution, and jewelry manufacture, to jewelry branding and retailing gold and diamond jewelry in India and abroad.
The Group pioneered jewelry retail revolution in India by launching Gili way back in 1994. It today owns and distributes eight out of the top ten jewelry brands in the country including Gili, Nakshatra, Asmi, D’Damas, Sangini and Diya.
Over the last two decades, the Group has expanded its operations in USA, UK, Belgium, Italy and the Middle East to China,Singapore and Japan.