Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man is set to launch 7-Eleven Inc.’s convenience stores across India.
The retail arm of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, Reliance Retail, says it will open its first store in Mumbai on Saturday.
The announcement of the franchise agreement comes just days after rival Indian retailer Future Group ended its deal with the US chain.
The Texas-based 7-Eleven chain has more than 77,000 stores in 18 countries around the world.
In a statement, Reliance Retail Ventures said there will be a “rapid rollout” of 7-Eleven stores in “key neighbourhoods and commercial areas across the Greater Mumbai cluster to start with”.
“India is the second largest country in the world and has one of the fastest-growing economies. It’s an ideal time for the largest convenience retailer in the world to make our entry into India,” president and chief executive officer of SEI, Joe DePinto, said.
According to the BBC, the 2019 agreement with Future Group was terminated earlier this month as the firm “could not meet store opening targets” and “payment of franchise fees”.
On Tuesday, Future Retail said that it had come to a mutual agreement with 7-Eleven to call off an existing partnership to develop and operate stores across the country.
In a brief statement, Future Retail said that it “was not able to meet the target of opening stores and payment of franchisee fees” required.
The company has previously said the pandemic has had a “significant adverse impact” on its business operations.
With a turnover of $21bn (£15.5bn), Reliance Retail Ventures is India’s largest and the most profitable retailer in India, a company statement said.
Mr Ambani, whose estimated net worth of $99bn (Forbes) is the founder and chairman of Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil, gas, telecoms and retail.
