Bhartiya buys Italy's Ompel

NEW DELHI: A true Indianmultinational, though small, in the making? In what is being seeing as a firstof its kind development, Bhartiya International, India’s largestmanufacturer and exporter of leather apparel, has bought over Ompel Spa, a $1.3million Italian apparel making company in Milan.Before that, the Rs130-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 retaillabels. Leather industry players say Bhartiya is the sole group that has beenselling globally under a label other than Made in India. Not just in marketingand distribution, Bhartiya International had gone global in its manufacturingtoo, shifting a bulk of it to China.Now, with the recent takeover,Bhartiya International will launch a young, fashion brand Yukali to add toOmpel’s classic apparel range selling under the Ompel label. “Thevision is not just to be a leather fashion apparel company but to be amulti-brand, marketing and distribution company,� says Snehdeep Aggarwal,managing director. After all, Made in Italy leather apparel sells at a hugepremium in markets the world over.With the takeover of the25-year-old leather and fur making company, Bhartiya International has acquiredthe manpower, agents, the distribution network and the existing clients ofOmpel. To ensure a smooth transition, Bhartiya has decided to keep the twofounders of Ompel with the new entity for three years in top-levelcapacities.