BENGALURU, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Reliance Retail, a unit of Indian petrochemical conglomerate Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), will enter the salon business and is in talks to buy a 49 percent stake in Naturals Salon & Co. Spa, CEO of the salon chain, said Friday on social media.
Existing promoters of Naturals Salon’s parent company Groom India Salons & Spa can continue operations and Reliance’s funding will help expand its network of 700 salons in 20 states by four to five times, The Economic Times earlier quoted executives The words reported were aware of the development.
“Reliance Retail has yet to acquire a 49% stake in Naturals,” Naturals CEO CK Kumaravel said in a LinkedIn post sharing the ET report.
However, neither the Kumaravel nor the ET report mentions the transaction value. Naturals and Reliance did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Chennai-based Naturals, founded in the early 2000s, aims to operate 3,000 salons by 2025, according to its website.
Reliance’s deal with Naturals comes just weeks after it launched its first in-house high fashion and lifestyle store, while media reports said Reliance was in advanced talks over the rights of LVMH-owned (LVMH.PA) beauty chain Sephora in India .
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, salons were among the hardest hit businesses. Naturals CEO Kumaravel even sought government help in May 2020 to keep the chain afloat.
However, the salon business is rebounding as people venture more into social events and the office.
Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza
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