Reliance Brands, a part of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, has formed an equal joint venture with US-based Iconix Brand Group to launch the latter's 20 fashion and lifestyle brands in India.
The joint venture -- Imaginative Brand Developer India Pvt Ltd -- will have vast portfolio of brands in India, including Waverly, Mossimo, Ed Hardy, Peanuts, Cannon, London Fog and Ocean Pacific.
"The joint venture is the owner of the 20 brands in India and we will license out them to retailers and interested parties to set up stores in return of royalty charges," Reliance Brands Chief Executive Darshan Mehta said.
Without sharing the details related to investment made by Reliance Brands in the JV he said: "It is for the first time that we have invested in owning any brand names. We will invest in marketing, branding and other collaterals required."
At present, the licence for selling the Mossimo brand in India is with Arvind Lifestyle while that of Ed Hardy is with the Wadhawan Group.
Henceforth, these two firms will be paying the license fees to Imaginative Brand Developer India.
"The joint venture has now become the licensor for these existing brands -- Ed Hardy and Mossimo -- in India instead of Iconix," Mehta said.
Nasdaq-listed Iconix Brand, that owns a diversified portfolio of fashion and home brands from luxury to mass market, registered total revenue of $369.8 million for 2011, up 11% compared to 2010, according to information on the company's website.
When asked how soon the other brands will be brought to India, he said: "We are ready to roll. We will start talking to interested parties."
Iconix said the partnership with Reliance Brands marks the next step in its global expansion. It currently has other similar partnerships in China, Europe and Latin America.
"Partnering with Reliance is an essential next step in our global expansion strategy," Iconix Brand chairman and chief executive Neil Cole said.
"With this new partnership, and together with our existing global partnerships, we are on our way to achieving our long-term goal of growing international revenue to a third of our total business," he added.
Launched in 2007, Reliance Brands has joint ventures with Diesel, Zegna and Timberland. It is also a licensee for a few others including Italy's fashion brand Paul & Shark.
