Introduction

Established in 1998 as part of the Tata Group, Trent Ltd. operates Westside, one of India's largest
and fastest growing chains of retail stores. The Westside stores have numerous departments to
meet the varied shopping needs of customers. These include Menswear, Women’s wear, Kid’s
wear, Footwear, Cosmetics, Perfumes and Handbags, Household Accessories, lingerie, and Gifts.
The company has already established 36 Westside departmental stores (measuring 15,000-30,000
square feet each) in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad & Noida (to be
considered as 1 city), Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Mumbai, Mysore,
Nagpur, Pune, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara and Jammu. The company hopes to expand rapidly with
similar format stores that offer a fine balance between style and price retailing. Trent ventured into
the hypermarket business in 2004 with Star Bazaar, providing an ample assortment of products
made available at the lowest prices, aptly exemplifying its ‘Chota Budget, Lambi Shopping’ motto.
At present Star Bazaar has 4 stores in 3 cities located in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Bangalore. This
store offers customers an eclectic array of products that include staple foods, beverages, health and
beauty products, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, consumer electronics and household items at
the most affordable prices. Star Bazaar also includes a large range of fashionable inhouse garments
for men, women and children, exclusively available at the store. In addition, Trent recently
acquired a 76% stake in Landmark, one of the largest books & music retail chains in the country.
Landmark began operations in 1987 with its first store in Chennai with a floor space of 5500 sq.
ft. At present Landmark have 10 stores, varying in size from 12,000 sq. ft. to 45,000 sq. ft, 3 in
Chennai and 1 each in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Vadodara, Gurgaon, Pune, Lucknow and
Ahmedabad. Until 1996, Landmark’s product portfolio comprised books, stationery, and greeting
cards. It was later that music was added to it. Landmark also sparked the trend of Page | 1 stocking
curios, toys and other gift items. What separates Landmark from other stores of its kind is the range
and depth of its stock. This story began circa 1998 when The Tata’s acquired Littlewoods – a
London based retail chain. This acquisition was followed by the establishment of Trent Ltd (a Tata
enterprise that presently operates Westside). Littlewoods was subsequently renamed Westside. In
a rapidly evolving retail scenario, Westside has carved a niche for its brand of merchandise creating
a loyal following. Currently, the company has 36 Westside stores measuring 15,000-30,000 square
feet each across 20 cities. With a variety of designs and styles, everything at Westside is
exclusively designed and the merchandise ranges from stylized clothes, footwear and accessories
for men, women and children to wellco-coordinated table linens, artifacts, home accessories and
furnishings. Well-designed interiors, sprawling space, prime locations and coffee shops enhance
the customers’ shopping experience.
 History
TRENT LTD. (TRENT) - COMPANY HISTORY
Trent Ltd. is a retail operations company that owns and manages a number of retail
chains in India. The company operates Westside one of India's largest and fastest
growing retail chains; Star Bazaar a hypermarket chain and Landmark a family
entertainment format store. They have already established 132 Westside departmental
stores measuring 8000-34000 square feet floor space across 74 cities. The Westside
stores have several departments to meet the varied shopping needs of customers.
These include menswear women's wear kids' wear footwear cosmetics perfumes and
handbags household furniture accessories lingerie and gifts. Well-designed interiors
sprawling space prime locations and coffee shops enhance the customers' shopping
experience.Trent also operates the Star Bazaar hypermarket chain that provides
customers an array of products that include staple foods beverages health & beauty
products consumer electronics and household items at the most affordable prices. Star
Bazaar also includes a large range of fashionable in-house garments for men women
and children exclusively available at the store. Since 2008 Trent has had a franchise and
a wholesale supply arrangement with Tesco and its wholly-owned subsidiary in India for
Star Bazaar.Trent holds 76% interest in Landmark Ltd a family entertainment format
store with a focus on toys adult and young adult books sports-related merchandise tech
accessories gaming and stationery. Trent has a separate joint venture with the Inditex
group for Zara stores. Trent has introduced a range of creative kitchenware through an
exclusive tie-up with a British company Lakeland. Stores are currently present in Pune
and Bengaluru.Trent Ltd was incorporated in the year 1952 as Lakme Ltd. In March
1998 the company acquired 100% equity shares of Trent Ltd (formerly known as
Littlewoods International (India) Ltd) from Littlewoods International Ltd UK for a
consideration of Rs 11.09 crore. Trent Ltd was amalgamated with the company with
effect from July 1 1998 and the name was changed from Lakme Ltd to Trent Ltd with
effect from June 15 1999. The company forayed into the retailing business post hive off
of their cosmetics business to Hindustan Lever in 1997.In the year 1998 the company
established Westside a lifestyle retail chain. They started their operations at Hyderabad
and Chennai on December 15 1998 and March 5 1999 respectively. In April 28 1999
they opened a store at Hughes Road in Mumbai and in August 2000 they opened a
store in Pune.In April 2001 the company opened a 12000 sq ft Westside store in Karol
Bagh New Delhi and in June 2001 they opened the Kolkata store admeasuring 18000 sq
ft. During the year 2002-03 Fiora Services Ltd became a subsidiary of the company
which is engaged in the business of rendering sourcing activities clearing & forwarding
and other related services to the company. The company opened two new stores New
Delhi and Nagpur during the year. During the year 2003-04 the company opened their
stores at Mumbai Ahmedabad Noida Mulund and Bangalore. During the year 2004-05
the company acquired 100% of the share capital of Satnam Developers and Finance Pvt
Ltd which is engaged in the business of construction and development of real estate.
They opened two new Westside Stores at Indore and at Andheri Mumbai. In October
2004 the company opened their first hyper-market in Ahmedabad under the name of
Star India Bazaar thus marking the entrance of the company in a new sector of
retailing.During the year 2005-06 the company along with their subsidiaries acquired
79% interest in the partnership firm Landmark Ltd the largest book and music retailer
in the country which is poised for a rapid expansion for Rs 108.5 crore. Landmark Ltd
has been converted into a public limited company and became a subsidiary of the
company. Also the company acquired 100% of the share capital of Nahar Theatres Pvt
Ltd the owner of premises from where the company operates their Westside store at
Lajpat Nagar New Delhi at a cost of Rs. 28.33 Crores. During the year the company
opened six new Westside stores located at Bangalore Vadodara Kolkata Ghaziabad
Gurgaon and Delhi. They expanded their operations at Lajpat Nagar (Delhi) Noida and
in Mumbai's Kala Goda. In May 2006 they opened a new Landmark store at Andheri in
Mumbai.During the year 2006-07 the company opened four new Westside stores at
Jaipur Lucknow Surat and Mysore. They also relocated their Pune store to larger
premises and extended the Chennai store. The company received the prestigious NDTV
Award of 'Retailer of the Year' and was also rated 'The Best Retailer' in the lifestyle
category in a survey carried out by the Business World Magazine. In February 2007
Landmark Ltd along with their subsidiaries acquired 52.18% of East West Books
(Madras) Pvt Ltd for a total consideration of Rs 1.14 crore. During the year 2007-08 the
company opened three Westside stores in Ahmedabad Ludhiana and Delhi and two Star
Bazaar stores in Mumbai and Bangalore. The subsidiaries of Landmark Ltd namely
Westland Books Pvt Ltd and Eastwest Books (Madras) Pvt Ltd merged together and
formed Westland Ltd with effect from April 1 2007. In September 2007 the company
made a strategic partnership with Benetton India Ltd for the commercial expansion of
Sisley brand in India. They opened four Sisley stores during the year. The company
transferred their Star Bazaar business as a going concern to their 100% subsidiary
Trent Hypermarket Ltd with effect from August 01 2008.During the year 2008-09 the
company opened eight Westside stores two Sisley stores and one Fashion Yatra Store
taking the total number of Westside stores to 36 and the total number of stores under
various formats to 42. In February 2009 the company entered into a MoU with Inditex
Group to develop and promote Zara stores in India. Inditex would hold 51% and Trent
would hold 49% stake in the proposed joint venture company.On 4 November 2009
Trent Limited entered into definitive agreements for the sale of 14.03 lakh equity shares
of Rs. 10/- each held by the company in its unlisted subsidiary 'Landmark Ltd.' to TVS
Shriram Growth Fund I for a consideration of around Rs 50 crore. Additionally TVS
Shriram Growth Fund I will subscribe for a further 4.21 lakh equity shares of Rs. 10/-
each in Landmark Ltd. at a consideration of around Rs 15 crore. Landmark is a leading
book and music retail chain.The Board of Directors had Trent Limited at its meeting
held on 26 April 2010 approved the issue of securities by the company on a rights basis
to its shareholders to raise an amount not exceeding Rs 500 crore.On 22 July 2011
Trent informed the stock exchanges that the company has entered into an MOU with
the Inditex Group to develop and promote Massimo Dutti stores in India. As per the
MOU signed ZARA Holding BV (an Inditex Group company) would hold 51% and Trent
Ltd. would hold 49% in the proposed JV Company.The Board of Directors of Trent Ltd
at its meeting held on 29 September 2011 decided to seek the approval of shareholders
for raising of additional long term funds of upto Rs 300 crore.The QIP Issue Committee
of the Board of Directors of Trent Ltd at its meeting held on 16 March 2012 accorded its
consent for the allotment of 27.41 lakh equity shares at a price of Rs 912 per equity
share to Qualified Institutional Buyers. Earlier on 14 March 2012 the company
successfully completed the Qualified Institutional Placement. The Board of Directors of
Trent Ltd at its meeting held on 4 July 2012 approved an issue of upto 16.67 lakh
equity shares to Tata Sons Limited the promoter of the company and/or other
companies in the promoter group on a preferential basis in accordance with the
provisions of SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2009
(SEBI ICDR Regulations).The Board of Directors of Trent Limited at its meeting held on
18 February 2013 approved to purchase from TVS Shriram Growth Fund I (the Fund) its
entire shareholding of 18.25 lakh equity shares of Rs 10/- each of Landmark Ltd. a
subsidiary of the company for a consideration of Rs 84 crores. Further it has been
agreed between the parties that the Fund would retain an option to invest in a minority
stake in Westland Limited (also a subsidiary of Trent Limited) at a future date. Trent
Limited would continue to pursue the build out of the Landmark format increasingly
focusing on family entertainment categories and seek to integrate these operations with
the Westside business. This is aimed at realizing cost and other operating synergies.The
Board of Directors of Trent Limited at its meeting held on 4 March 2013 approved the
Scheme of Amalgamation and Arrangement (The Scheme) between Landmark Limited
(Landmark) Fiora Link Road Properties Limited (Fiora) and Trexa ADMC Private Limited
(Trexa) with the company under the applicable provisions of the Companies Act 1956
after considering the recommendation of the Audit Committee. The Appointed Date for
the merger shall be 1 April 2013. On 21 March 2014 Trent Limited announced that it
has approved definitive agreements regarding an investment by Tesco PLC UK (Tesco)
in Trent Hypermarket Limited (THL) a wholly owned subsidiary of Trent Limited. The
agreements envisage that Tesco Overseas Investments Limited (Tesco Overseas) a
wholly owned subsidiary of Tesco would purchase part of the equity shares currently
held by Trent Limited in THL for an amount of approx. Rs. 150 crores and would
separately subscribe to additional THL equity shares for an amount of approx. Rs. 700
crores. Following the conclusion of the proposed investment Trent Limited and Tesco
Overseas will each hold a 50% stake in THL. The proposed investment by Tesco
Overseas is subject to necessary approvals. THL operates the Star Bazaar business.On
24 April 2015 Trent Limited launched first Sport Zone store the largest chain of sports
shops in Portugal in India at Bangalore. The innovative products and equipment
developed and marketed by Sport Zone will be available to the Indian customers in
franchised stores and shop-in-shops in department stores managed by Trent. The
partnership plans to open five Sport Zone stores in India by end of 2016. The Board of
Directors of Trent Ltd. at its meeting held on 28 June 2016 considered and approved
the sub-division of equity shares of the company having face value of Rs 10 per share
into 10 equity shares of a face value of Re. 1 each. On 28 October 2016 Trent Ltd.
announced that its subsidiary Westland Limited has entered into a definitive agreement
to divest its entire stake held in Westland Publications Limited to Amazon Eurasia
Holdings S.A R.L. Westland Publications Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Westland Limited. Separately Trent Limited Westland Limited and Westland Publications
Limited have also executed a business transfer agreement for the transfer of the
publishing business of Westland Limited to Westland Publications Limited for a lumpsum
consideration of Rs 39.80 crore.On 18 January 2017 Trent Ltd. entered into a definitive
agreement with Amazon Eurasia Holdings S.A R.L. for acquiring 26.03% of the share
capital of Westland Limited on a fully diluted basis from Amazon Eurasia Holdings S.A
R.L. thereby making Westland Limited a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.The
Board of Directors of Trent Ltd. at its meeting held on 19 July 2017 approved entering
into definitive agreement with Trent Hypermarket Private Limited a joint venture of the
company for acquiring their value fashion apparel business. The value fashion business
presents significant synergies with the existing apparel business of the company.On 28
December 2017 Trent Ltd. informed the stock exchanges that its wholly owned
subsidiary Fiora Hypermarket Limited (FHL) has incorporated a subsidiary namely Fiora
Online Limited (FOL) for retailing business. FOL has been incorporated as a 99.99%
subsidiary of FHL.