Arvind Brands has bagged rights to market Calvin Klein products in the country by buying 49 per cent stake in Premium Garments Wholesale Trading, a licensee for the PVH Corp's premium fashion brand in India, for Rs 180 crore.
Arvind already markets three main PVH brands namely Arrow, Tommy Hilfiger and Izod in the country.
CK, which is owned by Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation (PVH Corp) has been running a 51:49 joint venture in the country with the Murjani family under a trading company named Premium Garments Wholesale Trading, in which the US-based private equity fund Matrix Patners also held some stake.
With the latest deal, the Ahmedabad-based Arvind would now also market Calvin Klein branded jeans, accessories like belts, bags, small leather goods as well as CK-labelled underwear including sleep-wear as well as lounge wear.
Arvind Brands MD and chief executive J Suresh told PTI today that the deal was closed for a consideration of Rs 180 crore.
He also said that for the time being the joint venture would continue to be called Premium Garments, which was the licensee of Calvin Klein's trademarks in the country.
Arvind CMD Sanjay Lalbhai said Calvin Klein is one of the strongest fashion brands in the world. "This relationship strengthens our two decades of association with PVH, which started with the Arrow licence and has since been extended to the joint venture with PVH for the Tommy Hilfiger business and the licence for Izod."
Commenting on the development, Calvin Klein Inc chief executive Tom Murry said, "By having Arvind, we believe we are well-positioned to execute against and expand upon the growth strategy for the Calvin Klein brands".
Arvind has bought out stakes jointly held by the Murjani Group and Matrix Partners in the JV.
PVH is one of the largest apparel companies in the world, which owns as well as markets Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands worldwide. It is also world's largest shirt and neckwear company which markets a variety of goods under its own brands like Van Heusen, Izod, Arrow, Warner's and Olga.
Its licensed brands include Speedo, Geoffrey Beene, Kenneth Cole New York, Kenneth Cole Reaction, Michael-Michael Kors, Sean John, Chaps, Donald J Trump Signature Collection, Joes Joseph Abboud, DKNY, Ike Behar and John Varvatos.
