Timex Group, on Thursday, said, it is acquiring Mumbai-headquartered premium watch retail brand, Just Watches, for an undisclosed sum. As part of this deal, Timex India will be taking over all the physical stores of Just watches along with their e-commerce platform-justwatches.com.
Timex is one of the leading watch brands in the country sold through over 5,000 offline trade stores and key online portals. Timex Group’s licensed brand portfolio includes brands such as Guess, GC, Versace, Nautica, Adidas Originals, Furla, Ted Baker among others.
Plethora of options
“The parties have entered into an arrangement whereby TGUSA (Timex Group, USA Inc) will purchase the brand ‘Just Watches’ from PMPL (Priority Marketing Pvt Lt) and TGIL (Timex Group India Ltd) will be taking over the online brand webstore, www.justwatches.com along with all Just Watches stores in India. TGIL will be running these online and offline stores through its sales partners/ franchisees,” Timex Group India said in a BSE filing. Just Watches currently operates 16 stores.
The leading watch maker said this acquisition will help it establish a deeper direct consumer and retail all its brand on Justwatches.com. “This move further provides an added edge to Timex India’s retail plans as it provides the loyal consumers of the brand with a plethora of options to select their desired choice of timepiece,” it added.
Deepak Chhabra, Managing Director, Timex India stated that the acquisition is in line with the company’s future growth plans. “We are confident that the acquisition will provide a wider choice of timepieces to our consumers. Through this business move, at Timex, we are geared up to increase our consumer base countrywide. At Timex, we are focused on becoming a household name that is loved by generations across – from the millennials to the Gen Zs,” he added.
Ramping up footprint
In an interaction in April, Tobias Reiss Schmidt, Global President & CEO, Timex Group had told businessline that India is the second largest market for the after the US in terms of revenue. The company has also been ramping up its footprint in India with its plant in Baddi doubling its capacity over the last five years.
Timex India currently operates over 35 exclusive franchised stores under the brand name Timex World.
The decision of this acquisition comes at a point when Timex India is looking to take its retail presence and business growth in the country to the next level reinforcing them to be the trusted timekeepers of Indians,” he added.