Spice to push hotspot chain in 7 metros
Across the main cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad handset manufacturer Spice Mobility plans to substantially increase the number of its Spice Hotspot-branded phone stores.
As all the seven cities offer the company with large markets for mobile handsets priced above Rs 3,000it has chosen the cities.
According to B K Modi the global chairman of the Spice Group they will have both self-owned mobile handset stores and franchisee-owned stores in these cities.
Modi did not part with the information of the number of retail stores being planned by the company or the exact investment needed.
He explained that by this coming October the company has plans to sell around 3 crore treasury shares of Spice Mobility a company's stock that it keeps in its vault at the time of listing, to raise around Rs 300 crore. Spice Mobiles will reverse merge with Spice Televentures and the new venture will be called Spice Mobility, told by the Spice Group chairman B K Modi in New Delhi.
The Spice Group Tuesday consolidated its telecom business by merging its mobile retail business Spice Televentures with the handset division Spice Mobiles.
The merger will result in 4.2 crore treasury shares, of which 3.2 crore will be placed in the market, helping the company raise about Rs 300 crore, Modi explained.
The company also has cash reserves of around Rs 300 crore, which could be deployed to fund expansion targets envisaged by the company. On the group's overseas plan, Modi said, the company is focusing on the Middle East, Africa and ASEAN countries for growth.
They have another firm Spice i2i, listed on the Singapore Exchange, which will raise USD133 million through a rights issue. As a group, they are cash-rich and as more funds are coming in, they are adequately equipped for the growth plans. He further said the merger move will help the group consolidate the three businesses-- devices, retail and VAS--and focus on bringing in innovation in the mobility space.
