| Fossil Inc to make OyzterBay a global brand |
| BS Reporter / Bangalore December 4, 2006 |
| US-based lifestyle consumer products company Fossil Inc plans to aggresively enter gold and silver jewellery business globally by buying the OyzterBay brand. Addressing a press conference to announce the joint venture with Rajesh Exports, Mark Parker, senior VP (Asia Pacific) of Fossil Inc, said: "One of our private group companies has acquired OyzterBay brand for an undisclosed amount. "All this while, the company had a small presence in the gold and stainless steel jewellery market. This buy has given us an opportunity to aggressively focus on the global gold and silver jewellery market." Initially, OyzterBay stores will mushroom in India under the newly formed joint venture company - Fossil India Inc. At a later stage, the company plans to take OyzterBay jewellery brand global. "Our plan to position jewellery for young people meshes perfectly with the positioning of our watch and accessory brands, and we will be rolling out the new format OyzterBay stores in India starting next year," he said. OyzterBay, a company floated by Vasant Nangia, was split into two -- brand and retail assets - some months ago. One of Fossil Inc's company bought the brand and Rajesh Exports bought the retail assets (showrooms). According to Parker, OyzterBay stores will stock and sell new designs developed by Rajesh Exports and Fossil. It will also stock and sell its proprietary brands like Fossil, Relic, MW, MW Michele, Wrist Net, Wrist PDA and Zodiac. Updated at 1138 hrs: Rajesh Exports in JV with US-based Fossil Inc Rajesh Exports has formed a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with US-based lifestyle consumer products firm Fossil Inc. According to an official release issued by the company to the BSE today, the JV firm, to be named Fossil India Inc, would be engaged in manufacturing, distribution and retailing of jewellery, watches and lifestyle products. It will also outsource all its domestic jewellery retailing requirement and Fossil's international requirement from Rajesh Exports. The JV will have a significant impact on the profitability of Rajesh Exports due to the high margin nature of the products. As a result of this JV, Rajesh Exports will have access to the global marketing strengths of Fossil Inc and would benefit tremendously from Fossil |
