Kishore Biyani led Future Group’s listed retail infrastructure and warehousing arm, Future Market Networks Ltd., (FMNL) has announced a merger (subject to the due merger process), with Delhi based Star Shopping Centres Pvt.Ltd. (SSCPL).
Star Shopping Centres is a subsidiary of FMNL and is engaged in development and management of shopping centres and malls. FMNL currently owns 60 percent of Star while the balance 40 percent is held by mall development professionals and experts, Pranay Sinha and Shilpa Malik.
Star currently operates successful malls in Eastern India, with high sales per sq.ft. and occupancy. The malls have registered over 18 percent y-o-y growth in sales per sq.ft. over the past few years.
The Kokata mall held by the company enjoys a 99.4 percent occupancy with prominent tenants such as Reliance Retail, Max, KFC, Big Bazaar, PVR Cinemas etc on long term leases. Another shopping centre, located in downtown Siliguri currently at 86 percent occupancy, is undergoing expansion and renovation and adding a new anchor, a 40,000 sq.ft. of department store. This shall give a further boost to the company performance.
The merger is expected to be highly synergistic and could add upto 33 percent to FMNL’s turnover and significantly enhance profitability of the company. With a robust consumption story driving this growth in Eastern India, FMNL is now poised for high performance.
