Reliance Retail has acquired the Kelvinator brand from Swedish home appliance major Electrolux Group, as the Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance deepened its presence in India’s consumer durables market.

Reliance holds the manufacturing, distribution and marketing rights of Kelvinator from 2019 onwards. It did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition even as the Electrolux group in its interim second-quarter report disclosed a gain of 180 million Swedish Kronor (₹160 crore) from ‘the divestment of the Kelvinator trademark portfolio in India’.

Kelvinator, which has a presence in India for over five decades, has gone through many transformations over the years. The company’s advertisement for refrigerators with a tagline ‘The Coolest One’ was very popular during the 1970s and 1980s, when it competed for kitchen-space with homegrown Allwyn.

It was first bought by Whirlpool in the mid 90s before the Videocon group took control of it in around 2005. However, with the decline of the Venugopal Dhoot-led Videocon, the brand slowly retreated from showrooms and consumers’ mind-space.

Kelvinator made a comeback a year before Covid with RIL inking an exclusive and long-term brand licensing, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution deal with Electrolux. Reliance sells Kelvinator-branded refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners through Reliance Digital stores, multi brand outlets and e-commerce platforms.

Commenting on the deal, Isha Ambani, executive director of Reliance Retail Ventures, said: “The acquisition of Kelvinator marks a pivotal moment, enabling us to significantly broaden our offering of trusted global innovations to Indian consumers. This is powerfully supported by our unmatched scale, comprehensive service capabilities, and market-leading distribution network.”

With Kelvinator now firmly integrated into its formidable ecosystem, Reliance Retail is strategically positioned to accelerate category growth, deepen consumer engagement, and unlock substantial long-term opportunities within India’s dynamic consumer durables market, the company said in a statement.

This move reinforces Reliance Retail’s ambition to not only anticipate but also meet the evolving demands of the Indian consumer, solidifying its position as the undisputed leader in the retail landscape, it added.

As of June 2024, India’s consumer goods market was the fastest-growing among major economies and could nearly double to ₹3 lakh crore ($34.8 billion) by 2029, according to an EY report. It is dominated by Korean brands such as LG, Samsung and Indian entities like Voltas, Godrej among others.