Gitanjali Gems to rejig business; eyes realty

Suresh P. Iyengar Updated - March 21, 2011 at 11:29 PM.

Gitanjali Gems plans to restructure its business under five verticals — jewellery manufacturing, branding, retailing, international business and infratech.

“The idea of the restructuring is to unlock value for investors as each of our business verticals have grown substantially and need dedicated focus to grow them even further,” Mr Mehul Choksi, Chairman and Managing Director, said.

The company plans to have a separate team and board of directors for each vertical. In the process, there will be ‘clear visibility' on the happenings of the different interests. There may also be a merger of subsidiaries into the demerged entities if need be, he said. However, no decision has been taken on the possibility of listing these new entities.

As part of the infratech business, Gitanjali plans to redevelop land in the city's western suburbs of Borivali and Andheri and in Panvel in Navi Mumbai. This will be possible by shifting their facilities. Likewise, the company plans to launch projects in Hyderabad.

“Our land in Mumbai alone could easily be valued at Rs 2,500 crore. We expect a top line of Rs 80-200 crore from the business venture and expect this to lead to unlocking value of Rs 400 crore to our investors over time,” said Mr Choksi.

Gitanjali Gems plans to double its capacity to two million sq.ft of retail space by 2012 with an investment of Rs 25 crore. On the manufacturing front, it plans to increase gold processing capacity from 1.5 tonnes to 3.5 tonnes.

The company is keen on developing separate retail outlets based on its leading brands to strengthen its identity and bring customers closer to them. “Our brands are valued at Rs 4,000-5,000 crore and the entire business needs to be separate for them to grow further,” he said.

Some of the major brands of the company are Gili, Nakshatra, Desire, Giantti, D'Damas, Asmi and Lucera.

On demand for jewellery in global markets, Mr Choksi said, “We expect the following fiscal to be better for exporters as major players have replenished their inventory after the slowdown.”

Published on March 21, 2011 17:59