Tiffany's in talks with Reena Wadhwa for India entry

NEW DELHI: Iconic US jeweller Tiffany & Co is in talks to enter India through a 51% joint venture with actress-turned-luxury entrepreneur Reena Wadhwa, who already has a joint venture with Italian luxury brand Gucci, a person familiar with the negotiations said. "The deal is on the table now and could be signed soon," the person said.

Reena Wadhwa, who is married to investment banker and Ambit Group CEO Ashok Wadhwa, will float a new venture to run Tiffany's business, the person said.

Wadhwa confirmed she has been in talks with Tiffany's, but said nothing has been finalised. Tiffany & Co Vice President, Emerging Markets, Laurent Cathala said: "We have been pursuing discussions with potential partners and will announce the details of a business structure in India when we have finalised our plans and have signed the appropriate agreements."

Started as a stationery and fancy goods store in New York in 1837, Tiffany's is today the world's second-largest luxury jewellery retailer behind Chinese jeweller Chow Tai Fook, operating around 230 stores world over.

During its long history - Tiffany's will complete 175 years in September - the jeweller helped shape American culture including creating a design for the Union Army that would become baseball team New York Yankees' "NY" logo.

The company is fighting falling sales in the US and most European countries. During the festival season, better sales in Asian countries helped Tiffany's post a 7% rise in worldwide sales.

The company's management recently identified India as one of the key markets for the future. "We view India as an attractive long-term growth opportunity for Tiffany's," said Cathala, who heads Tiffany's emerging markets business, which covers the Middle East, Gulf countries, Europe, Africa, Turkey and India, and is based in Dubai.

Tiffany's is hoping to capture a pie of the country's $5.8-billion luxury market, which is expected to grow more than 20% a year to $14.7 billion by 2015.

Cathala is leading Tiffany's negotiations with Wadhwa being held out of Dubai, said the unnamed person quoted earlier.

Wadhwa had converted her company Luxury Goods Retail Pvt Ltd into a joint venture with Gucci in 2009, with the Italian firm holding 51% share. Gucci ended a franchisee deal with the Murjanis to form the joint venture.

A number of luxury brands have set sights on India as the luxury market is growing more than 20% a year. With the number of high net worth individuals increasing and aspiration levels of the young consumer class rising, the potential is big.

India has three million affluent households, defined as those with more than $100,000, or more than 50 lakh, of investable surplus, according to a global affluence study by research firm TNS.

The Indian government had recently allowed 100% foreign direct investment in single brand retail, but with a rider that retailers having more than 51% FDI will have to source at least 30% of their products from Indian small and medium enterprises, or those firms having invested not more than $1 million, or over 5 crore, in plant and machinery.

Sniffing an opportunity, real estate developers are expected to add more than one million sq ft of exclusive space for luxury retail over the next two-three years across the country.