Bhartiya buys Italy's Ompel

NEW DELHI: A true Indian multinational, though small, in the making? In what is being seeing as a first of its kind development, Bhartiya International, India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of leather apparel, has bought over Ompel Spa, a $1.3 million Italian apparel making company in Milan.
Before that, the Rs 130-crore Bhartiya group had begun operating an independent branch in Florence, and sold a Made in Italy label Monks Italia to leading European and US retail labels.Leather industry players say Bhartiya is the sole group that has been selling globally under a label other than Made in India. Not just in marketing and distribution, Bhartiya International had gone global in its manufacturing too, shifting a bulk of it to China.
Now, with the recent takeover, Bhartiya International will launch a young, fashion brand Yukali to add to Ompel’s classic apparel range selling under the Ompel label. “The vision is not just to be a leather fashion apparel company but to be a multi-brand, marketing and distribution company,� says Snehdeep Aggarwal, managing director. After all, Made in Italy leather apparel sells at a huge premium in markets the world over.
With the takeover of the 25-year-old leather and fur making company, Bhartiya International has acquired the manpower, agents, the distribution network and the existing clients of Ompel. To ensure a smooth transition, Bhartiya has decided to keep the two founders of Ompel with the new entity for three years in top-level capacities.