Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries (RIL) has put up the iconic Vimal textile business and brand on the block, media reports said. The textile division includes the main Vimal brand and sub brands Vimal White, Vimal Black and Vimal Red.
RIL has given the mandate to seek strategic partners or even a sale of Vimal, named after Dhirubhai Ambani’s nephew, to investment bank NM Rothschild, the Business Standard reported. An Economic Times report, quoting an unnamed top official directly involved with the proposed transaction, also said NM Rothschild has been hired to manage the sale of the troubled textiles division.
Vimal , launched in 1966 from Naroda, presently contributes just less than 2.5 per cent of RIL’s annual turnover of Rs 85,000 crore, according to the Business Standard report. The ET report quoting a source said the thinking in RIL was to exit any business in which annual returns are are less than 12 per cent.
Labour unrest and volatile cotton prices were also hurting Vimal’s prospects recently, the report said. Majority of the labourers of Vimal’s Naroda plant, which manufactures about 20 million metres of fabric under the Vimal brand, had gone on strike recently demanding wage revision, the BS report said.
The Vimal brand began with sarees but graduated to men’s suiting in the 80’s. The division also has a home furnishings segment under the Harmony brand name, the report said.
