New Delhi:
The Bhaane Group, owned by actress Sonam Kapoor and her husband Anand Ahuja, has bought Mumbai’s iconic music retail store Rhythm House for Rs 478.4 million (47.84 crore). The 3,600-square-foot structure was closed in 2018 after the store’s previous owner, Nirav Modi, defaulted on billions of dollars of bank loans. The news was confirmed by a resolution specialist designated by the Indian bankruptcy court, who managed the sale. Shantanu T Ray, the official liquidator overseeing the sale of Firestar’s assets confirmed the value of the deal and said, “The stakeholder committee has approved the sale of Rhythm House for 478.4 million rupees,” during a telephonic conversation with Bloomberg News.
The purchase was further substantiated by a spokesperson for Bhaane. While the company declined to comment on the financial details of the deal, it shared that the business has finished its due diligence and intends to increase its retail footprint in the area. “We have completed our due diligence and plan to expand our retail presence in the city. As private companies, we are unable to comment on any financial information regarding the bid,” the spokesperson said in an email statement. Bhaane’s retail unit operates the chain of Nike and Converse stores in India.
Bhaane is a fashion label under Shahi Exports Pvt., owned by Anand Ahuja’s father Harish Ahuja. It is one of the largest apparel makers in India which supplies international brands such as Uniqlo, Decathlon and H&M. Bhaane’s retail division already runs Converse and Nike outlets in India.
The deal marks the end of an era for a generation of music fans who grew up listening to their favourite artists on vinyls, cassettes and compact CDs. Rhythm House, founded in the 1940s, has played host to a number of Bollywood celebrities including Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and classical musician Pandit Ravi Shankar. However, a growing wave of music piracy started in the late 1990s, and as digital streaming became more popular, the iconic store gradually lost its relevance in the new era.
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