Reliance Retail, the retail arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), is reportedly vying to buy Subway Inc India franchise for $200-250 million (Rs 1,488-1,860 crore).
According to the reports, Subaway Inc is undergoing a restructuring process globally under chief executive John Chidsey and is trying to cut costs and reduce headcount as sales have taken a hit. Subway has been looking to streamline its India business by collaborating with local partners to do away with the current regional master franchisees and individual networks. Currently, the food chain takes on a master franchise of ‘development agents’ who run these clusters of stores but do not directly own these stores.
Reliance Retail reported Rs 962 net profit for the first quarter (Q1) of FY22, a jump of 123 percent year-on-year (YoY) as compared to Rs 431 crore reported in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Reliance Retail operates retail chains across verticals such as grocery, consumer electronics, fashion and lifestyle and luxury. Reliance Fresh, SMART, Reliance Digital, Trends, Reliance Jewels, Project Eve, Hamleys are some of the brands in its portfolio.
The company also acquired a 20.97 percent equity stake in local search engine Just Dial on July 20. It had bought 1,30,61,163 equity shares in Just Dial (or 20.97 percent of total paid up equity) at Rs 1,020 per share on the BSE, the bulk deals data showed.
