Several Indian apparel brands have marketing set-ups in the Middle East, and many have been considering overseas advancements for several years now. Some like Arvind Mills and Mafatlal Industries had even incurred significant expenditure for moving part of their operations abroad, but most of these efforts have not produced any significant results.
The latest move has come from Raymond Ltd., which owns the Park Avenue brand of apparel, operating in the domestic market. It is a well-established brand. Raymond has recently announced the purchase of Regency Texteis Portuguesa of Portugal for US$3 million. Regency has a unit capable of producing 400 trousers and 400 jackets a day. It has two retail outlets in Portugal and two in Spain. Regency is a profit-earning firm with sales of US$5 million in 2000. Portugal wages are much lower than the U.K., France and others in the EU.
Madura Garments, erstwhile apparel business of Coats Viyella's Indian arm now owned by the Aditya Birla Group, which also owns Grasim Industries, is also reportedly considering overseas ventures in apparel. It is apparently considering Bangladesh, Indonesia and China, and hasn't ruled out Eastern Europe.
A sentiment for overseas expansions was building up among some leading Indian brands, but the September 11th incident in New York has changed the scene dramatically, and everybody seems to be waiting to see how and in what manner the developed world markets settle down.
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