American Eagle inks deal with Aditya Birla for Indian expansion

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Sep 20, 2017

American Eagle has entered into a multi-year licensing deal with Aditya Birla Group to open licensed stores in India. The first stores will open in Mumbai and Delhi in Spring 2018.

The Indian assortment will include the AE Jeans collection and pieces celebrating casual American style.

Andrew McLean, American Eagle's EVP-Global Commercial Operations pointed to India's "rapidly developing and vibrant economy" as a reason for the licensing deal. Additionally, India has the largest youth population in the world which offers American Eagle an opportunity for significant growth and extension of its brand reach.

McLean said American Eagle selected Aditya Birla because it "brings deep market experience and extensive retail capabilities."

Aditya Birla is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. It runs 900 retail stores and 6,000 points of sale. Its strengths are in-house e-commerce and omni-channel technology. It is valued at $41 billion US dollars.

American Eagle operates 1,000 retail stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China and Hong Kong. It's e-commerce business ships to 82 countries. It currently has active licensees operating 190 stores in 24 countries.