Mumbai: Provogue is going to the mall. It will invest more than Rs 1,000 crore in big-box stores in six cities as a part of a joint venture deal with Britain's Liberty.
Prozone Enterprises, Provogue's retail infrastructure arm, is betting big on malls. It has joined hands with UK-based Liberty International to set up a venture, which will develop malls in six cities. Prozone will put in Rs 1,050 crore in the venture, in which Liberty will invest Rs 202.5 crore, for a 25 per cent stake.
Liberty Intl UK Chief Executive David Fischel said, "India is a very interesting market for us because of its scale. We have businesses in the UK and the USA and we see India as a very interesting third market."
About 255 million people live in smaller cities. That's why Prozone has set its sights on cities like Aurangabad, Indore, Surat and Mysore. And Prozone is not too perturbed by the competitive retail rush.
Provogue MD Nikhil Chaturvedi said, "If a Pantaloon makes a mall today, Reliance is competing with him and Shoppers' Stop is competing with but we as Provogue occupy only half a percent of the entire mall space. We don't have a department store or a hypermarket, so when we come out with a property offer, that offer excites all players."
Property consultant Knight Frank says that, in the next two years, 41.4 million square feet of retail space will come up in small towns alone. That seems like the new retail battleground.
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