Puma India head Abhishek Ganguly, CFO, head of sales resigns; will start its own joint venture, ET Retail
Abhishek Ganguly, Managing Director at Puma IndiaTop three executives at indian cougar, Abhishek GangulyThe company’s chief executive officer, Amit Prabhu, chief financial officer, and Atul Bajaj, director of sales and operations, have resigned from the sportswear company to found their own sports brand.
Karthik Balagopalanwho worked with leopard lion India and currently based in its home market of Germany, will likely take over as Puma’s new head of India, two people familiar with the development said.
Ganguly joined the India unit of the global apparel and footwear company at its inception in 2005 and became CEO almost a decade later in 2014. Under his leadership, sales Puma’s sales have increased fivefold from Rs 600 million in 2014 to nearly Rs 3000 last year. He also pushed for an aggressive store expansion strategy – bringing the total number of stores from 150 to more than 480 during his nine years in office.
“Ganguly is leaving after a long time with India. The new venture is in the sports space,” one of the sources told ET.
Puma India did not respond to email inquiries sent to them.
Over the past few years, the growing awareness of fitness and growing demand for sportswear has helped this segment, while the travel boom has led people to spend more on the site. everyday wear.
For calendar year 2022, Puma posted a 46% increase in sales in India, with sales hitting Rs 2,980 crore, outselling its rivals. adidas, Nike And Reebok total.
In India, the brand now boasts more than a dozen ambassadors, many outside of sports, including actor and singer Harrdy Sandhu and actor and entrepreneur Anushka Sharma.
Puma derives about 60% of its revenue from footwear and the rest from clothing and accessories. Last year, it opened 69 new stores, bringing the total to 480. Of that, more than 44% of its sales came from e-commerce.
With a population of 1.4 billion, India is one of the largest and fastest growing international markets for sports companies, especially Puma Corporation. Brands are increasingly reducing their reliance on imports and investing in local manufacturing — half of their products are now designed, developed and manufactured in India, up from less than half three or three years ago.
