Spice Group Acquires Cellucom to strengthen its Retail business

~ HotSpot, a Dr. BKM led retail venture acquires 100 % of Cellucom’s India holdings ~

New Delhi; February 02, 2009: HotSpot Retails Ltd., a Spice Group company today announced the acquisition of the Indian stake of Dubai-based mobile and IT products retailer, Cellucom. HotSpot already has over 500 retail stores across the country; this along with Cellucom’s 120-plus retail stores will take the combined entity’s overall position to a clear No. 2 in the mobile & technology-product retail category, giving it a truly pan-India presence through this inorganic growth.

Speaking on the group focus, Dr. BKM, Global Chairman, Spice Group said, “India is one of the biggest mobile consumer markets in the world, and our vision is to be a step ahead in addressing the needs of the mobile society. All our strategic initiatives are focussed towards delivering on our group vision.”

By way of this deal, HotSpot has acquired 100 per cent equity of Cellucom in lieu of its 26 per cent equity on a consolidated basis. Given the fact that Cellucom’s product offering spans an entire set of mobile and IT products, the merger will further enhance HotSpot’s product line to include IT and related products along with the existing line of mobility offerings.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Dilip Modi, Vice Chairman, Spice Group said, “This tie-up will go a long way in supplementing out footprint nationally, as well as increasing customer stickiness due to an increase in the width of the product portfolio – in line with our philosophy of offering Mobiles and More.”

Mr. Dilip Modi further added, “The mobile & technology-product retail business in India is growing at a fast pace and holds tremendous potential. This coupled with HotSpot’s growth of 100 per cent in the calendar year 2008 v/s 2007, showcases the opportunity in the segment. We expect this trend to continue and estimate the combined turnover for the year 2009 to be around Rs. 1000 crore. We will infuse another Rs 100 crore in the business in 2009 to fuel growth plans and expand operations to over 100 cities across the country.”

Speaking on the merger, Mr. Arun Nagar, CEO and Managing Director, Cellucom said, “Cellucom has made its mark as a specialized retailer of Mobility products, with a variety of products and solutions designed to enable consumers stay productive while on the move. Its choice of locations, store design, product portfolio, and the staff training are designed to provide a better Customer Experience. The merger with Hotspot Retails improves the retail capillarity of the organization, while widening the customer profile and providing improved economies of scale. I am confident that the synergies unleashed by this merger will create a market leadership position for Hotspot Retails.”

“The consolidation would result in significant advantages and benefits to both companies. The merged entity will synergize the best of both organizations in terms of people, products and processes to ensure enhanced efficiency, economies of scale and implementation of global best practices”, added Mr. Dilip Modi. The new entity with an employee capital of 2500 will be led by Mr. Sanjeev Mahajan as CEO.

About Spice Televentures & HotSpot Retail

Spice Televentures is part of the Dr. BK Modi-led Spice Group (a conglomerate in Telecom, Technology, Entertainment & Financial Services verticals). The Spice Group has a long and rich 30-year history in pioneering products and services in technology, automation, IT and telecoms in the Indian market.

Spice Televentures is the new holding company and promoting company which manages and operates the interests of Spice in the domain of Mobile devices (Spice Mobiles), Mobile Value Added Services (Cellebrum), Application Development (Mobisoc), Mobile & Tech Products Retail (HotSpot), BPO & Back Office Services (Bharat BPO).

HotSpot Retails is a leading mobile & technology-product retailer, voted the best in Customer Service by Mint-Pitch and voted the Best Large Format Retailer in North India by Voice & Data.

For further information, please contact:

Vivek Sabharwal, LINOpinion – The Lintas PR Division

(0) 9811546419, vivek.sabharwal {at} lintasindia(.)com