Aditya Birla arm charts revival path for Reebok

ADITYA BIRLA FASHION and Retail (ABFRL) has been quietly shoring up the retail presence of Reebok, the sportswear brand whose distribution rights it acquired in December 2021 for India and South East Asian countries at an estimated 100 crore from the Authentic Brands Group, Reebok's new owner.

- VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO

While the deal has helped ABFRL mark its presence in India's ₹20,000 crore organised sports footwear market, which has big names such as Puma, Adidas, Nike, Asics, Skechers and Decathlon lording over it, the Aditya Birla group has big plans for the brand. The sports footwear market is growing at around 10% per annum.

Analysts and retail experts see ABFRL taking a leaf out of rival Metro Brands' strategy to grow its footwear business in the country. Like Metro Brands, which in the last few years has focused aggressively on its international brand tie-ups such as Fila, Crocs and Fitflop, ABFRL, too, is looking to grow its footwear business on the back of an aggressive distribution and e-commerce expansion of Reebok.