Kishore Biyani's Pantaloon Retail exits JV with British airport retailer Alpha

Pantaloon Retail (India), the flagship of the Kishore Byani-promoted Future Group, has divested its stake in its joint venture with British airport retailer Alpha Group Plc - Alpha Future Airport Retail Private Ltd - the company said in a filing with the National Stock Exchange.

According to the company, it has divested its holding in Alpha Future Retail in favour of Alpha Overseas Holdings Ltd. The retail company has now moved out of the joint venture following divestment of the stake. Alpha Group is one of the world's biggest aviation support companies and a wholly owned subsidiary of Autogrill SpA.

Autogrill described the agreement with Pantaloon Retail, which was widely touted last month, as ''friendly'', and said it was consistent with plans to integrate the business activities of Alpha Group, World Duty Free Europe and Aldeasa.

''The reorganisation of Autogrill Group's presence in India, where it also runs food and beverages operations at Hyderabad and Bangalore airports, implies that the group can pursue synergies at geographical level too, putting it in an ideal position to take advantage of development opportunities in the Indian marketplace.

''Delhi International Airport is the second-ranking Indian airport after Mumbai by passenger traffic (20 million passengers in 2007). A wide-ranging airport expansion programme is now under way, with the new T3 international terminal, containing 4,000 sq m of retail space, scheduled for completion in 2010, by which time passenger traffic is forecast to rise to more than 60 million annually."

The duty free tender for T3 in Delhi, expected soon, is certain to be one of the most hotly fought contests in Indian travel retail history