Zara sister brand Massimo Dutti is in

Massimo Dutti has signed a joint venture with Tata-run Trent

Massimo Dutti, the upmarket fashion brand of Spain’s Inditex group, which also owns the Zara fashion brand , is second-time lucky in its attempt to enter India. A year after rejecting its proposal, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Tuesday cleared the brand’s application.

Massimo Dutti has already signed a joint venture with Tata-run Trent, with which Inditex has a 51:49 joint venture for Zara in India.

Last year, FIPB had rejected Massimo Dutti’s proposal to open stores in India, citing violation of a rule framed by the department of industrial policy and promotion that said an investor must own the brand it was proposing to bring to India. Last year, the application was made by Zara Holdings Netherlands, though the brand was owned by Inditex.

Subsequently, the government relaxed the norms on brand ownership. According to the current policy, the investor entity should have a legally tenable licence agreement with the brand owner.

In March this year, the group moved a new application before FIPB; the application was made by Grupo Massimo Dutti SA, which operates as a subsidiary of the euro 13.8-billion Inditex. The revised application was to invest euro 1.5 million (about Rs 10 crore) through two years to open five Massimo Dutti stores in the country, through a 51:49 joint venture with the Tata Group. Globally Massimo Dutti has 630 stores across 61 countries. In 2011, Inditex had announced a joint venture with Tata’s Trent to launch Massimo Dutti stores in India.

 

"Massimo Dutti offers basic, contemporary styles in next-generation fabrics. Garments are always of a high quality, while at the same time practical and comfortable. Subtle textures, 100-percent natural fabrics and innovative blends result in a flawless look and the utmost comfort," Inditex says about Massimo Dutti in its website.

 

Inditex, which has over 6058 stores in eight formats in 80 markets around the world, had signed an agreement with the Tata group in February 2009 to form the joint venture to launch Zara outlets in India and opened the first store in 2010.

 

In India, Zara operates outlets across Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Delhi.

 

Globally, Inditex runs eight formats — Zara, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterque.