Spice could buy troubled Cellucom and other retailers

In a bid to open between 300 and 400 retail stores in the GCC region by the end of 2011, Spice Global is in talks to purchase troubled Dubai-based chain Cellucom, which closed all its UAE outlets in April facing liquidation and a legal battle. Spice Global is a major mobile handset maker and retailer in India with 700 Spice HotSpot stores, and is looking to extend its footprint into the Gulf region, by buying out other mobile retail chains.

“They [Cellucom] had to take a lot of loans, so the banks closed the shops,” Spice Global’s chief executive Bhupendra Kumar Modi told press in Dubai. “The banks have taken over so, in fact, we are hoping to buy it from the banks.”

The Singapore-based conglomerate, with interests in telecoms, entertainment and finance, is looking to invest around US$150 million in its push to realise its Gulf dream of up to 400 branded outlets by the end of next year.

Cellucom is not the only retailer on Spice’s radar, with other retail chains suffering from weak sales and heavy debt burdens potentially being taken over by the Spice brand.

Cellucom had around 25 retail stores in the UAE as part of a network of 500 shops across the Middle East, Africa and India, at the time its UAE shops closed their doors.

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Cellucom closes its doors in UAE amid legal row