Multi-brand retail chain V-mart is eyeing expansion beyond India. To begin with, the company is currently contemplating setting up shops in Bangladesh. They want to take advantage of the vacant organised retail space there and studying the market. A team from the company just returned from Bangladesh and the management will now study its observations.
After studying the team’s observations like FDI rules of the land, their laws and the political situation, the company will take a call on whether to go solo or look for an associate partner. The feasibility study of the market is likely to get completed in the next 6-12 months and a decision will be taken only after that. After establishing base in Bangladesh, the company may explore markets in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
V-mart has recently raised Rs 122 crores through an initial public offer to fund its expansion plans of almost doubling its showrooms to 120 outlets by 2015 in smaller Tier II and III cities in India. It currently operates 69 outlets. Post-IPO, the promoters hold 59 per cent stake in the company, while Adity Birla Group’s private equity fund Naman Finance & Investment owns 9 per cent stake. Rest is diluted to public during the IPO.