British mother and baby products retailer Mothercare is accelerating its expansion in India with plans for 200 stores, double its original target. The firm, which currently has 23 franchise stores in India, said on Friday it had formed a new joint venture with real estate company DLF Brands to open standalone stores.
Mothercare will own 30 percent of the joint venture and DLF will own the remaining 70 percent but Mothercare will have an option to increase its stake to 51 percent in the future. It said the new venture will complement its existing deal with department store retailer Shopper’s Stop to roll out shop-in-shops.
On Thursday Mothercare posted a slight slowdown in second-quarter sales growth, in line with expectations, and said it was stepping up expansion in China. Shares in the firm were up 1.6 percent at 610 pence at 1107 GMT, valuing the business at about 540 million pounds ($877 million).
