Aditya Birla Retail to roll out retail business under ''more.'' brand

19 May 2007

Mumbai: The Aditya Birla group plans to invest Rs9,000 crore over the next three years in a pan-Indian chain of supermarkets and hypermarkets under the ''more.'' brand name.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, AV Birla group said his company intended to be among the leading retail players in India.

The first few of Birla''s planned 1,000 supermarkets will open in Pune by June.

The funds for the retail venture will be raised through a mix of debt and equity. The group''s listed companies Grasim Industries, Hindalco, UltraTech, Aditya Birla Nuvo and Idea Cellular will not make any investments in Aditya Birla Retail. The various holding companies in the group will be the promoters of Aditya Birla Retail, according to analysts. But investment details were not disclosed.

The company also plans to go it alone in the joint venture, as the group has the necessary competencies in-house, said Birla.

The supermarkets would be neighbourhood stores catering to daily and weekly household shopping needs of customers, while the destination hypermarkets would cater to monthly shoppers and event-based needs.