India's Aditya Birla Fashion to buy 51% of high-end Sabyasachi

India’s Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd said on Wednesday it would buy a 51% stake in the Sabyasachi brand, best known for high-end wedding wear favoured by Bollywood celebrities and rich business families.

The deal will see ABFRL inject 3.98 billion rupees ($54.53 million) into Sabyasachi Couture for the stake, ABFRL said in a statement to Indian stock exchanges.

The investment will allow ABFRL to strengthen its position in the largest and one of the fastest-growing fashion segments in the country, allowing it to tap into the luxury markets of clothing, jewellery and accessories, it said.

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Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the brand’s founder, is one of India’s most-famous fashion designers whose intricate and bespoke designs have often been the top wedding-wear choice of movie stars like Priyanka Chopra and the family of Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man.

Sabyasachi’s designs - though highly priced and out of reach of most middle-class Indians - are often copied and sold at deep discounts in local markets. The Vogue website on Wednesday listed one particular Sabyasachi wedding outfit’s price at 395,000 rupees ($5,407).

ABFRL’s statement quoted Mukherjee as saying the deal followed his efforts to find the right partner to “ensure continuity and long-term sustainable growth”.

ABFRL - which operates more than 3,000 stores in India - also manufactures famous Indian apparel brands and owns a retail chain named Pantaloons. It owns the rights to sell Forever 21, American Eagle Outfitters and Ralph Lauren branded clothes in India.