Gitanjali Gems Ltd, the country’s leading branded jewellery producer, has acquired leading Italian jewellery chain Giantti Italia for $15 million. Giantti has leading jewellery brands under its chain, which include Valente, Stefan Hafner, Nouvelle Bague, Io Sì And Porrati.
The Italian brand acquisition will help the company penetrate global markets where Indian brand appealing lacks due to India’s ‘ethnic’ mindset. This would allow Gitanjali to introduce new light weight jewellery designs especially in European and the West Asian markets, where Indian brands could not make a stronger foothold earlier.
This was the third mega acquisition by the Indian jewellery firm after Samuels Jewellers Inc and Rogers, both US firms, the company acquired in 2007.
The Indian company, headed by Mehul Choksi, recently acquired the brands and launched Giantti Italia Srl, the Italian subsidiary of the Indian Gitanjali group, with offices in Milan.
Choksi founded the Gitanjali Group in 1966, turning it into one of the largest diamond and jewellery empires, and introduced the concept of distributing designer jewellery, making it accessible to the general public on the Indian market.
The group now has a business with a complete, vertically-integrated vision: from the processing of diamonds and precious stones, it is a Diamond Trading Company (DTC) sightholder, to the production of jewellery. It owns the D’damas, Nakshatra and Gili brands in addition to the retail distribution of lifestyle brands in India, the USA, the UK, Belgium, Italy, the West Asia, South East Asia, China and Japan, through an international network of retail outlets that it either owns or manages directly.
Commenting on the recent acquisition of five Italian brands, Choksi, MD, Gitanjali Gems Ltd, said, “The presence on the Italian market is in line with our goal of acquiring excellence and expertise in the creation and handcrafting of jewellery. Italy is the world leader in this: it represents the cutting edge of jewellery design and we are great admirers of ‘made in Italy’ creations. Our choice for the future is, in fact, to keep all design and production in Italy.”
