Ending more than a year of uncertainty, the Tata group has finally decided to synergise the operations of its two retail arms ?Infiniti Retail and Trent ?for a deep foray into the supermarket segment with Woolworths, a $38-billion Australian major. The development could see the formation of an altogether new retail arm by the group.
The two retail arms of the Tata group have been vying with each other for more than a year for operating in the hypermarket and the supermarket segments. Trent already operates three hypermarkets under the ?Star Bazaar India? brand, while Infiniti Retail operates three consumer durable stores in a joint venture with Woolworths, Australia?s largest food retailer, which is also the second largest private sector employer Down Under.
Since early last year, Infiniti Retail has been actively negotiating with Woolworths to expand the scope of partnership to include hypermarket and supermarkets. But Trent, headed by Noel Tata, had also firmed up plans to add another 20 hypermarkets. Had Infiniti Retail bagged the hypermarket segment, Trent would have had to give up its plans. Trent operates through Westside, Landmark and Star Bazaar India. Sources said, Noel Tata already had a series of meetings with the Woolworths chairman in the last few months. These meeting hinted at a synergy in their plans, putting an end to a year-long competition between the two Tata group entities.
An official spokesperson of the group said a comment was not possible immediately.
Both the group companies have been bullish on the food and grocery retail business. In fact, another group company, Tata Chemicals, had last year signed an agreement with Europe?s largest fresh produce company, Total Produce, to form a 50:50 joint venture to create distribution facilities for fruits and vegetables.
