Future Group plans to foray into the international market for fashion and consumer products through a joint venture with the Oman-based Khimji Ramdas (KR) Group, and will open about 18 exclusive ‘fbb’ stores in West Asia in the next few years.

The 50:50 joint venture will be called KR Future Fashions with an investment of Rs 75 crore each, Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani told reporters here.

“We will open the first fbb store early next year in Oman. We plan to open 5-6 stores next year initially, and about 18 stores in the region in the next few years,” Biyani said.

“The strategic partnership is a step towards making fbb a global fashion brand. We are optimistic that the combination of our fashion knowhow and KR’s local in-market expertise will get us closer to our goal of getting fbb to the helm of the top 10 preferred international fashion brands,” he added.

fbb will focus on growing volume sales, and targets a production of 100 crore garments a year in the next five years. The international foray will help us meet this target, he said.

“We produce about 22 crore garments a year, and will touch 30 crore garments next year,” he added.

The new fbb stores in Oman will be about 15,000 sq ft in size, and will cater to the value segment.

Going forward, Future Group will also leverage the joint venture to strengthen the distribution of the company’s food and FMCG brands internationally, Biyani said.

KR Group is among the largest conglomerates in Oman with a strong distribution network and a diverse portfolio of products and services.