The strategic alliance with the buying house is expected to enhance growth of Cityman's garment exports and the proposed portal venture. During the year 1999, Pacific Wave executed orders worth Rs 15 crore through various suppliers.

Cityman also plans to infuse additional capital and expand the size of the company to make it the principal arm for procuring new customers in the US. The initial investment in the US market to expand its operations will be Rs 5 crore.

"Pacific Wave will be the marketing agent for the Web portal. Since it is located in the hub of the garment market in the USA, Pacific Wave will be able to direct a large portion of buyers to the portal site," a Cityman official said.

Though distribution of the company's Cityman brand of garments and apparels will continue mainly through the existing channels, the company is planning a brand building exercise through the Web. The company is planning to spend about Rs 13 crore for the portal project.

Cityman officials said the company is in an advanced stage of designing an effective customer buying experience on the Internet. Cityman achieved an export revenue of Rs 8.02 crore during fiscal 1998-99.

The company is planning to achieve a turnover of Rs 17 crore by March 2003 from the vertical portal business. Revenues from business-to-business (B2B) transactions alone is estimated to exceed Rs 30 crore for this portal by the third year. The proposed portal will facilitate buyers and sellers to make enquiries and transactions, display about the requirement and capability of the customers.