India’s largest retailer Reliance, which launched its own beauty retail platform called Tira in April to take on the likes of Nykaa (FSNE.NS) and the Tata Group, will now take over Sephora’s 26 stores in India from Arvind Fashions (ARVF.NS).

Arvind Fashions had partnered with the French brand for the last eight years.

“The partnership gives RRVL (Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd) exclusive rights to build and enhance Sephora’s presence in India across channels,” Reliance Retail said in a statement.

Sephora’s products range from make-up to skincare. The chain also retails luxury brands such as Dior and Tom Ford offline and online and recently became the exclusive retailer for pop star Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty brand in India.

The 990.2 million-rupee ($11.89 million) deal between Reliance and Arvind Fashions comes months after local media reported that Sephora and Reliance Retail had abandoned talks to form a retail partnership for the Indian market.

Beauty retailers in India are vying to attract customers as demand for clean beauty and celebrity-owned brands grows. Brands such as Nykaa, Tira, and Shoppers Stop recently expanded their offerings in the hopes of attracting and keeping customers.

“Rising affluence, increasing urbanisation and the proliferation of social media have driven greater awareness of self-care and beauty, unlocking major opportunities for prestige beauty,” Sephora’s Asia President Alia Gogi said.

Shares of Arvind Fashions surged 11.5% after the news, before trimming some gains to close 5.8% higher.

The beauty division that hosted Sephora reported a revenue of 3.37 billion rupees in fiscal 2023, or about 7.6% of Arvind Fashions’ total revenue.

The company will use proceeds from the deal to invest in its brands and repay debt.

Superdry’s shares (SDRY.L) jumped 18% to a near two-month high on Wednesday after the company said it would use the expected 28.3 million pounds net proceeds to boost its liquidity and fund its capital needs as part of a turnaround plan.

The deal will be via a joint venture — in which Superdry will invest 9.6 million pounds for a 24% stake — and cover Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India, where the UK company has been present since 2012 when it first partnered with Reliance Retail.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail has more than 18,000 stores selling everything from groceries to electronics. It also has partnerships with foreign brands such as Jimmy Choo, Marks & Spencer and Pret A Manger.

The company, which competes with Amazon (AMZN.O) and Walmart’s (WMT.N) Flipkart, is in talks with investors including the sovereign wealth funds of Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia for investments of around $1.5 billion, Reuters reported last month.

On the other hand, Superdry, which mostly sells sweatshirts, hoodies and jackets, has been grappling with weak orders from wholesale partners as consumers deal with a cost-of-living crisis and fall in real wages.

Last month, it warned of stunned revenue growth this year after posting a bigger-than-expected annual loss. It has been raising funds to bolster its finances and said cutting costs was a priority.

The deal with Reliance Retail, said Superdry, will help it “focus on growing its brand and increasing sales in its more established territories, where it has strongest expertise.”

The assets in the deal generated about 1.8% of total group sales in the financial year through April 30, said Superdry.

Shares of Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), the parent of Reliance Retail, were down 0.8% in afternoon trading. ($1 = 0.8286 pounds)

The Jio World Plaza, which an industry source said is likely to open this year, is located inside Reliance’s $1 billion business and cultural hub in Mumbai’s business district.

Reliance has yet to disclose details about the tenants, but lease documents provided by real estate analytics firm CRE Matrix showed that Burberry Group (BRBY.L) as well as several brands owned by LVMH (LVMH.PA), Kering (PRTP.PA) and Richemont (CFR.S) have agreed to rent shops in the mall, and also share between 4% and 12% of their monthly net revenue with Reliance.

The brands include jewellers Cartier and Bulgari, fashion houses Louis Vuitton, Dior and Gucci, watch brand IWC Schaffhausen and luxury luggage maker Rimowa, which will open its first outlet in India.

Reliance, Burberry, LVMH, Kering and Richemont did not respond to a request for comment.

“Luxury brands have always struggled for quality retail spaces in India and many were forced to open their first outlets in luxury hotels,” said Anuj Kejriwal, CEO of India’s Anarock Retail. “These brands are now looking for meaningful presence.”

At almost 700 square metres (7,500 square feet), Louis Vuitton’s Jio World Plaza store will be the most spacious of its four outlets in India. Cartier’s store will be its second in the country and for Dior, it will be the third.

To ensure the mall retains its luxury appeal, some lease agreements like that of Dior include a clause that entitles it to a 25% rent reduction if at least four of 10 luxury brands including Gucci, Cartier, Bulgari and Tiffany don’t open their own outlets in the mall within six months.

India’s 1.4 billion population, the world’s biggest, has a per capita income of just $2,300, but the country is also home to more than 800,000 dollar millionaires who are splashing out on everything from luxury homes to expensive SUVs.

Real estate consultants Knight Frank estimate India will have 1.4 million millionaires by 2026, 77% more than in 2021, as the economy continues to strengthen.

The growth in India, where Euromonitor estimates the personal luxury market to expand almost 12% a year in 2022-2026 to nearly $5 billion, contrasts with the slowing economy in China, whose appetite for designer goods has driven sales growth in luxury firms for years.

China’s personal luxury market will grow an average 11.5% in the four years to 2026 to $107 billion, Euromonitor data shows.

(This story has been refiled to remove the extraneous word ‘any’ in paragraph 3)

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures raised $1 billion from Qatar Investment Authority at a $100 billion valuation last month and is in talks with global investors to raise around $2.5 billion more by the end of September.

Reliance Retail has more than 18,000 retail outlets, selling everything from groceries to electronics. In the apparel space, it has tie-ups with both domestic brands, such as fashion labels Ritu Kumar and Manish Malhotra, as well as foreign brands such as Armani and Marks & Spencer.

The joint statement by Reliance Retail and Ed-a-Mamma, owned by Indian actor Alia Bhatt, did not mention a deal value.

Ambani’s daughter Isha Ambani, who was appointed to the board of conglomerate Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) last month, leads the retail business.

The Qatar Investment Authority is considering a $1-billion investment in Reliance Retail Ventures, for a stake of about 1%, valuing the business at around $100 billion, the reportsaid, citing three people with knowledge of the discussions.

The report sent shares of its parent Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) up as much as 2.1%, its biggest percentage jump in over a week.

Reuters had reported earlier this month that Reliance Retail, fully owned by Reliance Retail Ventures, was valued at $92-$96 billion by two global consultants, a move that could signal an eventual initial public offering (IPO).

Ambani had said he planned to list his retail operations at some point but was yet to give a timeline or details of his plans.

Reliance Retail Ventures houses retail operations such as international partnerships and consumer goods business.

Reliance Retail, headed by the billionaire’s daughter Isha Ambani, has core retail businesses that include digital and brick-and-mortar stores.

It has partnered, in recent years, with a slew of global brands like Burberry, Pret A Manger and Tiffany to launch and expand their presence in India.

The Qatari sovereign wealth fund had not yet approved the deal, which itself has not been finalised yet and might change, the FT report added.

Both QIA and Reliance Retail Ventures did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

In 2020, Reliance Retail Ventures raised 472.65 billion rupees ($5.77 billion) by selling a 10.09% stake to investors including U.S. private equity firms KKR and General Atlantic, the Saudi Public Investment Fund and the UAE’s Mubadala.

The stock also slid 3.1% on Friday, ahead of the results, but that came after a rally of a little over 13% this month ahead of the demerger of Jio Financial Services last Thursday when the stock hit a record high.

However, the focus on Monday was on the fading fortunes of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led company’s flagship oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business after record-high refining margins last year following the post-pandemic jump in demand for fuels.

The business’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 6% in the latest quarter, weighing on overall profit since despite expanding into retail, green energy and telecommunication, the O2C business remains Reliance’s largest at over 63% of operational revenue.

Analysts at Jefferies expect that the unit’s profitability in the current quarter will remain under pressure from a limited impact of the EU ban on imports of Russian refined products, weak economic activity in China and the narrowing discount on Russian crude.

Even Reliance’s telecoms and retail unit did not fare as well as expected.

In fact, Reliance Jio, the telecoms unit, posted its slowest profit growth in six quarters on higher expenses and a slowdown in tariff hikes.

Meanwhile, analysts at Antique Stock Broking said the retail division’s revenue did not rise as much as it had anticipated given the store additions and the acquisition of brands and businesses, including German retailer Metro AG’s (B4B.DE) Indian unit.

Still, the average rating of the 32 analysts covering Reliance’s stock remains a “buy”, while the median price target is 2,840.50 rupees, Refinitiv data shows.

That implies a roughly 13% jump from the current price of 2,504.95 rupees and is 8% higher than the stock’s record high of 2,630.95.

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures, galvanised steel sheet maker Jindal (India) and Donear Industries-owned textiles maker GBTL (DONE.NS) have been listed as prospective resolution applicants for the Future Group company, said Avil Menezes.

Menezes is a court-appointed resolution professional overseeing the company’s affairs during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Reliance Retail is also among a list of 49 companies eyeing another Future Group company, Future Retail (FRTL.NS).

Future Enterprises houses various businesses such as supply chain solutions and insurance, while Future Retail used to operate brands such as department chain Big Bazaar and supermarket chain Easyday.

Future Retail was dragged into insolvency proceedings by banks in July 2022 after it defaulted on loans and its lenders rejected a $3.4 billion buyout by Reliance amid a legal challenge by Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O). Future Enterprises was admitted to insolvency in March.

In May, Future Retail said it received six bankruptcy resolution bids without disclosing the names of the bidders.

“As per our requirement, the decision has been taken to purchase 10 aircraft in phases. The technical committee is assessing now,” Mahbub Ali said.

Ali’s comments came after sources said the airline was close to a deal to buy 10 Airbus A350 widebody planes, marking its first order with the French planemaker.

It was not clear whether the deal would be finalised in time for the Paris Airshow, which opens on Monday.

Airbus declined to comment. Biman did not respond to a request for comment.

“Every country has both Airbus and Boeing in their fleet. We didn’t have an Airbus in our fleet,” Ali said, as the airline looks to break its reliance on the U.S. planemaker that typically dominates widebody orders.

The 51-year-old airline has a fleet of more than 20 mostly Boeing planes, over half of which are widebodies, and some Dash-8 turboprops.

Biman Bangladesh’s demand for more widebody aircraft comes as travel is seeing a strong post-pandemic rebound. The carrier flies non-stop to 20 destinations worldwide including Britain, Malaysia, Thailand and Canada.