Indian e-commerce market is transforming very quickly as big investors are showing their interest by stakes in popular online shopping platforms. After the popular Walmart-Flipkart deal, Kishore Biyani’s Future Lifestyle has bought 29.9% stakes in Koovs for Rs. 140 crore. This makes Future lifestyle to become the biggest shareholder in Koovs and adds another name to the list of e-commerce companies Biyani owns.
The e-commerce market has taken the industry standards by a storm, we regularly see more and more investors ready to rake in their moolah into digital platforms. Online shopping portals are seen as one of the biggest players in this segment and recently we saw another big merger that shook the Sensex. Future lifestyle has bought 29.9% stakes in Koovs for a whopping 140 crores INR
Koovs was founded in 2010, and just within a year, the company saw a change in owners and started by selling off mobiles and electrical appliances on their site. Further a year down, it showed a major focus shift from electrical to being an online fashion store.
In 2013, Waheed Alli joined as the Chairman of Koovs and the company decided to set up a design office in London. This helped Koovs to collaborate with several international designers.
Biyani, seems to be positive about this decision and he thinks Koovs will do great in the coming future.
“(We) are excited to partner with Koovs to continue building on Future Lifestyle Fashion Limited’s ambition. This investment would complement the existing value chain for FLFL as an integrated branded fashion player. FLFL’s strong retail presence backed by owned brands coupled with Koovs online strategy will help reach more customers and create value for all stakeholders,” he said in a recent interview.”
Future Group currently holds 2,000 retail stores and sells 30 crore units of garments annually. Biyani has seen a mixed response in the e-commerce business, earlier he started FutureBazaar.com which ended up in loss after its FabFurnish acquisition. This new deal with Koovs may help in changing the dynamics of online shopping business for Future group and will be eyed by all experts to analyse what the future really holds.
