Future and Bharti Retail merger to create a Rs 15,000 crore retail mammoth

Future Group's flagship company -- Future Retail and Bharti Enterprises' Bharti Retail will merge their retail business, the two said. The combined entity to have a turnover of Rs 15,000 crore. 

Future Retail operates chains like Big Bazaar, Food Hall, Fbb, eZone, Home Town and Food Bazaar chains. The company has nearly 350 chains with over 11 million square feet of retail space as against a total of 17 million square feet in the Future Group collectively. 

Bharti Retail runs Easyday and Easyday Market and has over 200 stores in 114 cities. 

Kishore Biyani, Founder and Group CEO, Future Group said, “Bharti Retail’s strengths and network compliment perfectly with that of Future Retail. It will bring us closer to millions of consumers and provide new opportunities or our supply partners. The operational efficiencies that can be derived from the merger will create significant value for our shareholders.”

The two said that the merged company will have over 570 retail stores in 243 cities with an operational retail space of 18.5 million square foot. 

The new company will run 203 Big Bazaar and Easyday hypermarkets, 197 Food Bazaar and Easyday supermarkets and 171 other stores comprising of other brands from Future Retail.

"The consolidation creates one of India’s foremost retail networks in the fast growing consumption economy of India," Future Retail said. 

"To streamline the operations resulting from this consolidation, the Board of Directors of Future Retail and Bharti Retail have proposed a demerger of the retail business of Future Retail to Bharti Retail,and a demerger of the infrastructure business of Bharti Retail to Future Retail. After the demerger becoming effective, the business will be operated through two distinct entities," the company said. 

The company housing the retail business will be called Future Retail Ltd and the entity with the infrastructure business will be named Future Enterprises. 

Kishore Biyani said the retial company wil have a debt of Rs 1200 crore and Future Enterprises will have a debt of Rs 3500 crore/

The company has no no plans to list Big Bazaar at the moment, Biyani clarified.