CityLife Retail to invest Rs 200 crore on expansion of stores

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Oct 8, 2018

Kolkata-based value fashion retail chain CityLife Retail will invest around Rs 150-200 crore (approx $20 to $27 million) to expand its retail presence across India and plans to open 40-50 stores every year. The brand is also planning to float an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 3 years.

The funds for the proposed expansion will be raised by selling a minority stake to private equity funds. CityLife will focus on tier 3, 4 and smaller towns for its next phase of expansion, as these cities contribute the maximum to the company’s overall revenues.
 
CityLife had reported revenue of Rs 500 crore for the fiscal year 2017-18 with a net profit of Rs 22 crore.

“The investment for opening up of these stores will be around Rs 150-200 crore and the company has plans to raise money to fund the expansion by selling a minority stake to a private equity fund. We are now negotiating for the second round of fundraising. Eventually, there might be an initial public offer after 2-3 years,” CityLife Retail director Ritesh Kedia, told the Economic Times.
 
“CityLife will continue to focus on smaller towns and outskirts of large cities since rentals are much less whereby it can make a profit. There is huge aspiration amongst consumers in these markets and penetration of modern retail is low,” he added.
 
To enhance the visibility of the brand and connect with the masses, CityLife has signed Bollywood actors Rajkummar Rao and Shruti Haasan as brand ambassadors ahead of the festive season.
 
CityLife currently has 106 stores spread over 13 states with an average store size of 10,000 square feet.