Aditya Birla Fashion to acquire TCNS Clothing in ₹1,650 crore deal

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| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Limited (ABFRL) said it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire TCNS Clothing, the owner of leading ethnic brands W, Aurelia, Wishful, Folksong and Elleven.

This transaction will be carried out through acquisition of the founding promoter’s stake through a SPA and a conditional public open offer followed by the merger between the two entities. 

“The value of the promoter stake and open offer consideration for TCNS is ₹1,650 crore for 51% stake,” the company said in a statement.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, said, “For ABFRL, the TCNS deal is indeed a significant milestone as it complements our existing portfolio of exceptional brands across the entire spectrum of Indian fashion.”

“By embracing TCNS’s portfolio of loved women’s ethnic brands, we are reinforcing our commitment to ethnic wear, the largest category in the apparel industry. With this acquisition, the fast-growing ABFRL platform is poised for the next phase of transformational growth,” he added. 

Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director, ABFRL, said, “Each of these brands have been built over a long period of time and enjoy tremendous consumer love. This transaction is a pivotal piece of our strategy of building India’s most comprehensive ethnic wear portfolio.”

“Over the last five years, ABFRL has built its ethnic portfolio through a series of strategic and calibrated actions,” ABFRL said. With this acquisition ABFRL’s ethnic wear portfolio is expected to reach ₹5,000 crore in the next three years, it added.

Mr. Anant Daga, Managing Director of TCNS added, “Over the last 20 years, we have built India’s most successful women’s franchise on the back of our leading brands. The market continues to offer long-term growth opportunities and our partnership with ABFRL will help us fully realise this potential.”

As part of the transaction, ABFRL will make a conditional open offer to acquire up to 29% stake at ₹503 per share from public shareholders and acquire the remaining stake from the founder promoters to reach an overall shareholding of 51% in TCNS. 

Following this, TCNS will be amalgamated with ABFRL under the merger scheme wherein public shareholders of TCNS (as on effective date) will receive 11 shares of ABFRL for every six shares that they hold in TCNS.