Reliance Set To Acquire Alia Bhatt’s Ed-a-Mamma

Reliance Retail Set To Acquire Alia Bhatt’s Ed-a-Mamma

SUMMARY

The children’s wear brand is valued at INR 150 Cr reportedly, which sells its products online and across Lifestyle and Shoppers Stop outlets

Founded in 2020, Ed-a-Mamma manufactures and sells children’s wear, teens' wear and maternity wear

Reliance has been working aggressively to capture the online retail market with its latest venture Tira being launched earlier this year

Reliance Brands, a subsidiary of Reliance Retail, is reportedly in talks to fully acquire Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt’s children’s wear brand, Ed-a-Mamma.

Reliance Retail is looking to buy Ed-a-Mamma in a deal worth INR 300-350 Cr, two industry executives told ET. Ed-a-Mamma is valued at INR 150 Cr reportedly, which primarily sells its products online.

After Mothercare, Ed-a-Mamma will be the new addition to Reliance’s children’s wear portfolio.

According to one executive aware of the deal cited by ET, the deal is said to be in its final stages and Ed-a-Mamma and Bhatt would sign the papers in the next 10 days or so. The deal is said to give Reliance a better foothold in the kidswear market, the executive added.

Founded in 2020, Ed-a-Mamma manufactures and sells children’s wear, teens’ wear and maternity wear. The company operates in an omnichannel model, selling across ecommerce platforms and offline retail chains including Lifestyle and Shoppers’ Stop. With the deal, Ed-a-Mamma would likely also get access to Reliance’s Trends stores, further strengthening its offline presence.

Incidentally, Ed-a-Mamma is only the first in many recent attempts by Reliance Retail to grab a bigger share of the online retail market in India. Earlier this year, it was reported that Reliance has entered an agreement with Chinese fast fashion brand Shein to bring it back to India, having been banned in 2020 after increased border tensions with China.

The retail giant is said to have entered a stringent deal which would see the highly popular Chinese fast fashion brand manufacture its products in India, having secured approval from the Indian government.

Further, Reliance Retail also launched Tira, an online beauty and personal care brand in direct competition with dozens of such brands in the startup ecosystem, including Nykaa. Along with launching its app, Reliance Retail also opened its flagship Tira store in Mumbai in May this year.

Two of India’s largest conglomerates – Tata and Reliance – have been acquiring multiple startups of late to strengthen their online presence, while at the same time providing these well-known brands with an opportunity to expand offline in an omnichannel model.