Retail space shrinks as Biyani buys Sangam Direct

Kishore Biyani-led Future Group has bought Sangam Direct, a chain of stores, from the Mumbai-based Wadhawan Group, for an undisclosed amount. The move would further consolidate the retail space in the country.

Wadhawan group also owns housing finance company DHFL. Sangam Direct has about 35 stores in Bengaluru and the National Capital Region.

The acquisition is part of Biyani's strategy to grow the base of small stores for his company. Sangam Direct stores could soon be rebranded as Easyday soon.

"We're opening pados ki dukan (neighbourhood stores) and the buyout is part of that," Biyani said on the sidelines of India Retail Forum on Wednesday. This is Biyani's fourth buyout in the recent years.

Earlier, he bought Big Apple stores in the north, Nilgiris in the south and merged Bharti Retail with Future Retail.

"We are looking at opening 3,000 small stores and over 70 per cent of the merchandise in these stores will be our own products," Biyani said. Easyday would be the umbrella brand for all their small stores, he added.

"With sales, margins and profitability panning out, investors and promoters of retail chains are realising they have invested for long and not had good returns. He is presenting a good opportunity for them to sell out, saying he is the last man standing," said Raman Mangalorkar, the chief executive officer of data analytics firm Atom Data Lab.