News: Will it be a Landmark-Tesco tango in India?

(BL 30/12/2006) Bangalore - Now that the Landmark-Carrefour knot has been severed, the Indian retail jigsaw puzzle is being fitted all over again.

The $600-million Dubai-based retail chain, which operates 400 stores across West Asia and India, is believed to be considering a joint venture with the £40-billion, UK-based retail chain, Tesco plc for its hypermarket foray.

Sources close to the group said that the Landmark Group is considering 2-3 global partners and Tesco figures prominently among them.

Responding to this, Micky Jagtiani, CEO, Landmark Group, said, "We did have one introductory meeting with Tesco long time back but at this stage there is nothing to announce in this regard." He also said that "these are very early days and a formal announcement on the partner will be made once something crystallises. I would like to reiterate that these are only initial stages of exploring possible tie-ups."

Commenting on the `failed' Carrefour talks, Jagitiani in an e-mail interview told Business Line, "In mid-December, there had been some reports in the Indian press that the group's talks with Carrefour had fallen through which we had not been informed."

Meanwhile, Landmark Group has chalked out aggressive plans for a foray into the hypermarket segment in the country. Max Hyper is scheduled to launch its first store in India soon and we have been looking at potential partners for this retailing project, Jagitiani said.

Landmark currently has 12 Lifestyle, six Max and two Home Centre stores in India. With a considerable brand presence in India, would Landmark still want to look at a partner for retail expansion in the country?

"As of now, Landmark Group does not have the best of technology in food retailing. It would therefore be good to partner someone in this field," Jagtiani said.