Reliance Brands Limited, which is owned by Mr Ambani, said it had signed an agreement to buy the company from China's C Banner International which had acquired it in 2015.<doc-sep>Pay based on use Get Started Purchase a Team or Enterprise subscription for per week You will be billed per month after the trial ends<doc-sep>India's richest man Mukesh Ambani has bought the iconic British toy store Hamleys for £67million. Ambani's Reliance Brands business secured a deal to buy the world's oldest toy retailer from Chinese fashion conglomerate C Banner International. The move brings to an end Hamleys' four-year spell under the Hong-Kong based firm, which bought it for £100million. Hamleys, which was founded in 1760, has 167 stores across 18 countries. Reliance already operates 88 Hamleys stores across 29 Indian cities. Ambani, a teetotal vegetarian, is worth £38billion ($50 billion) according to Forbes. He initially made his fortune in oil refining and petro-chemicals before branching out into everything from telecoms to cable networks and tech firms. India's richest man Mukesh Ambani (pictured with his wife) has purchased the iconic British toy store Hamleys for £67million He adds the chain to his retail empire which includes Bottega Veneta, Jimmy Choo, and Armani Who is India's richest man Mukesh Ambani and how did he make his fortune? Mukesh Ambani inherited the makings of his wealth from his father, who was the son of a Gujarati village school teacher Mukesh Ambani is a teetotal vegetarian who his wife describes as quiet, modest and shy. He enjoys visiting wildlife parks and once said he tries to watch three Bollywood films a week. The billionaire inherited the makings of his wealth from his father Dhirubhai, who was the son of a Gujarati village school teacher. Said to have moved to Mumbai with just a few rupees in his pocket, according to the Times of India, his father went on to build a global-scale petroleum company in 40 years. Mukesh was one of two sons, Anil being the other. He trained as a chemical engineer in Mumbai, and went to Stanford University, US, before working for his father. The businessman then inherited his section of the business after his father died of a stroke in 2002. Originally the brother's tried to run it together but, following feuding, their mother stepped in and split it into two parts. Mukesh walked away with the petroleum, oil, gas and textiles arms while his brother got the telecommunications, asset management, entertainment and power generation parts. But this didn't stop the entrepreneur from entering these markets. In 2013 he signed a deal with New Delhi-based Bharti Airtel to build India's 4G network and launched his own smartphone brand, LYF, which became the third most popular in the country. Other business ventures include working with fashion labels such as Jimmy Choo, Paul Smith and Emporio Armani. At present he is locked in a vicious feud with Amazon and Walmart for dominance of the growing online Indian market. Advertisement In recent years, he has massively expanded his retail portfolio and carved deals for his business to work with key fashion labels including Canali, Burberry, Armani, Bottega Veneta, Just Cavalli and Jimmy Choo. Ambani has said he hopes the consumer business wing of his empire will contribute as much to his conglomerate's earnings as the core energy business by the end of 2028. He is currently engaged in fierce competition with Amazon and Walmart in an ongoing race to dominate India's retail market. The purchase of the much-loved Hamleys will help bolster that fight. Best known for its enormous flagship store in London - itself a tourist attraction that receives five million visitors a year - Hamleys has been expanding internationally since the mid-2000s. Reliance already had a franchise agreement for India, running 88 stores in 29 cities, but the purchase now brings him a total of 167 stores in 18 countries. But while the brand is well-known, Hamleys has struggled. The £68 million ($88 million) price tag is almost half what C.Banner paid previous owner, France's Groupe Ludendo, in 2015. In 2017, Hamleys closed a number of loss-making stores in the UK and Ireland, as it started a restructuring programme after posting a £9.2 million pre-tax loss during the year, citing concerns over Brexit. The acquisition comes after a sale process for the retailer which reportedly also drew interest from Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley, and toy retail chains The Entertainer and Smyths. The deal will make Hamleys Reliance's first overseas retail brand, expanding its current portfolio which is primarily focused in Indian supermarkets. President and chief executive of Reliance Brands, Darshan Mehta, said: 'This 250-year-old English retailer pioneered the concept of experiential retailing, decades before the concept of creating unique experiences in brick and mortar retailing became the new global norm. 'The worldwide acquisition of the iconic Hamleys brand and business, places Reliance into the frontline of global retail.' Multi-industry magnate Mukesh made headlines in 2010 when his £768million ($1billion) residence Antilia was unveiled in Mumbai. The 27-storey abode measures 400,000 square foot, has three helicopter pads, underground parking for 160 cars, and requires some 600 staff to run. Hamleys first opened its doors in 1760, after Cornishman William Hamley founded the now world famous toy shop in the heart of London. It quickly made a name for itself selling everything from tin soldiers, to toy cars to rag dolls attracting families, nobility and even royalty. Multi-industry magnate Mukesh made headlines in 2010 when his £768million ($1billion) residence Antilia was unveiled in Mumbai (pictured). The 27-storey abode has three helicopter pads, underground parking for 160 cars, and requires some 600 staff to run Hamleys had previously been owned by Hong Kong-listed company C.Banner International Holdings. (Pictured) A Jimmy Choo store which is owned by Ambani Emporio Armani has also been added to the billionaire's company Reliance Brands Children gaze into a 1927 Hamleys shop window display in London. The shop was started by a Cornishman more than 250 years ago when he opened the first store in the heart of London<doc-sep>
Reliance Retail has the licence to sell Hamleys products in India. Reliance Industries has acquired British toy retailer Hamleys, the energy-to-telecoms conglomerate said on Thursday. Reliance Industries, which runs the world's biggest single-location crude oil refinery in western India, has been gradually transforming itself into a consumer-facing behemoth through its retail and telecoms ventures. Through its Reliance Brands subsidiary, the company signed an agreement to buy Hamleys from Hong Kong-listed C Banner International Holdings. Reliance did not disclose the price, but in 2015 C Banner had bought it for 100 million pounds ($130.2 million) from France's Groupe Ludendo. The acquisition marks the first foray of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries in an overseas retail brand. "The worldwide acquisition of the iconic Hamleys brand and business places Reliance into the frontline of global retail," said Darshan Mehta, chief executive of Reliance Brands. Reliance Retail has the licence to sell Hamleys products in India. Founded in 1760, Hamleys resonates with a sense of nostalgia for adults and children alike, with its flagship Regent Street store in Central London recognised around the world. Hamleys has withstood global recessions, and world war bombings and has changed hands several times, the latest being the 2015 sale by Groupe Ludendo. The toy seller runs 167 stores across 18 countries, the majority of which are in India. Reliance, which owns the master franchise, operates 88 Hamleys stores across 29 Indian cities. Having established itself as India's leading telecoms player, Reliance Industries has been firming up plans for a major retail onslaught to combine its traditional outlets with an online foray aimed at taking on Amazon and Walmart in India. It is already the country's biggest bricks-and-mortar retailer in terms of revenue and number of stores. The conglomerate's strategy to diversify beyond refining and petrochemicals has began to bear fruit, with its fast-growing telecoms and retail operations driving quarterly profit to record highs despite its gross refining margins taking a hit from oil price volatility and slowing global demand. The group's retail business doubled revenue to 356 billion Indian rupees ($5.1 billion) in the three months to Dec. 31 while earnings before interest and tax more than tripled to 15 billion rupees.