Koutons Retail planning Middle East foray

Apparel manufacturer Koutons Retail India plans to enter the Middle-East market by the end of this year.

"We are exploring the markets in the Middle-East and also China for our overseas expansion. We are presently assessing these markets," DPS Kohli, chairman, Koutons Retail, said.

"We are still fine-tuning our plans and hence I cannot reveal any details presently," he added.

On the company's recently-concluded initial public offering (IPO) through which it raised Rs 100-crore, Kohli said that around Rs 45 crore would be utilised for rolling out 100 of its flagship stores in 30 cities.

"Presently we have around 650 stores. Our aim is to have around 1,000 men's stores and 2,000 `Charlie Outlook' stores for the youngsters by 2010," he said.

Around Rs 55-crore of the IPO proceeds would be utilised for setting up a new plant including buying land, while Rs 10-crore would be utilised for capital goods and machinery.

"Around Rs 5.5-crore would be used for implementation and upgradation of IT," Kohli said.