Tata International Ltd to Acquire 51% Stake in Move-On Shoes

Tata International Limited is poised to acquire 51% stake in Move-On Shoes, a Portugese footwear retailer. This will be a great opportunity for TIL (Established in 1962) to expand its business in the European footwear market. It was just last year that TIL had ventured into Indian footwear-retailing under the brand name Tashi.

Move-On has a presence in Portugal, Spain, Belgium and France. It has been badly affected by issues of solvency and has agreed to sell off their 51% share to Tata International Ltd.

In early 2011, TIL acquired a 76% stake in footwear manufacturers Bachi Shoes India Pvt Ltd (BSIPL) and Euro Shoe Components Pvt Ltd (ESCPL).

Tata International Ltd makes shoes for several famous brands including Escada and Hush Puppies. It has a tanning and finishing facility at Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, and has a manufacturing unit in Chennai.

After taking over as the Managing Director of TIL, Noel N Tata (who was heading Tata's retail business Trent) is now contemplating expansion of TIL’s conventional business to other areas. TIL will not be confined to Leather and Engineering anymore. They have now set their sights on footwear industry as well - both in India and overseas. TIL is expanding both through partnerships and acquisitions, depending on the circumstances.

Of late, other large businesses hae also been turning their attention to footwear and allied businesses.

In 2009, Reliance Industries Ltd signed a deal with footwear and apparel manufacturer Timberland for a joint venture and Reliance became their exclusive distributor in India. Recently Future Group also announced a 50-50 partnership with UK based footwear brand Clarks, for distributing their product through Future group showrooms and it will be known as Clarks Future Footwear. Earlier Clarks products were retailed through Reliance Retail.