News: Raymond, European firm in pact

(TT 09/08/2006) Mumbai - Raymond Ltd and European denim company, UCO NV, have formed a 50:50 joint venture company, Raymond UCO Denim Private Limited. Raymond has transferred its denim business to the new company.

UCO NV has also transferred its stake in its denim subsidiary located in Belgium, which holds the denim companies of UCO NV to the joint venture company.

The new company, incorporated in India and with executive headquarters in Belgium, will be engaged in manufacturing and marketing denim fabrics.

The venture will be managed by a board of directors, which will see equal representation of both the partners on the board.

The company will have manufacturing facilities spread across three continents — the US, Europe and Asia with a combined fabric capacity of 80 million metres per annum and global marketing network.

“At Raymond, we continue to move forward towards taking our business global,” said Gautam Singhania, chairman and managing director of Raymond Ltd. The company expects the new entity to register a combined turnover of Rs 1,150 crore in the first year.

UCO has manufacturing facilities in the US and Belgium and is setting up a facility in Romania to be commissioned by May 2006. The company will have a total capacity of 40 million metres.

“The company will have a significant scale of operations, European design skills and a strong back-end in integrated manufacturing, to cater to the global requirements of large international brands,” said Philippe Vlerick, chairman of UCO NV, Belgium.

The global demand for denim today is estimated at around 5.5 billion metres. The size of the global denim fabrics industry in 2005 was valued at an estimated $10 billion. Asia, America and Europe, the primary targets for this new joint venture, account for 97 per cent of the total world market.