buys 50 in local ops of ed hardy mossimo owner mumbai mukesh ambaniowned reliance brands has struck an equal joint venture with nasdaqlisted iconix brand group acquiring the ownership and management rights of 20 international lifestyle brands for india these brandsincluding names like ed hardy mossimo london fog ecko and candiesoperate mostly in fashion apparel home decor and electronics with combined retail revenue of 12 billion globally the deal provides ambani significant heft in indias expanding lifestyle retail industry and this is possibly the biggest investment in fashion by a large indian corporate after aditya birlas acquisition of madura garments more than a decade ago reliance brands will buy 50 stake in iconix india a newly created subsidiary of the us parent founded by neil cole a brother of the american designer kenneth cole ambani the richest indian with an estimated wealth of 27 billion may use iconix jv to acquire or invest behind indian fashion brands similarly iconix will transfer the indian ownership of all future global acquisitions to the new jv the india ownership of the brands is vested with the joint venture company for perpetuity we paid a fairly significant upfront amount to purchase the stake and the rights darshan mehta ceo reliance brands told toi some other prominent brands that are part of the jv include mudd candies rocawear rampage danskin charisma sharper image iconix also has joint ownership of seven global brands including material girl with singer madonna which will become part of the jv in due course the dealmaking with reliance is part of iconix groups aggressive push into growth markets like india and china where they forged a jv with fashion tycoon and former owner of tommy hilfiger silas chau iconix chairman neil cole who built a fashion business through acquisitions said he was open to brand buyouts in growth markets like india we are in talks to buy a brand in brazil and could look for similar opportunities in markets like india he said from new york over phone iconix india will license the brands to local retailers in return for royalty payments the jv will keep the brand management marketing and business development duties for all the brands we plan to build exclusive long term licensing deals with local retailers for each of these brands the retailer will manage the stores inventory and the operations mehta said mohan mahajan partner at consulting firm mahajan aibara said acquiring rights of wellknown global brands is one of the easier ways to build a retail business as opposed to developing a local brand indian conglomerate aditya birla acquired madura garments the branded apparel brands of coats plc to enter the fashion business in 1999 more recently rpg enterprises bought the brand rights of ceat from italian tyre maker pirelli ril russias sibur ink 450m deal mumbai ril has announced a joint venture with russian petrochemicals giant sibur for production of butyl rubber in jamnagar gujarat with a combined investment of 450 million