One of the pillars of Reliance’s strategy in the consumer space seems to be to acquire legacy brands and then relaunch them in a big way.
After acquiring and relaunching Campa Cola, Reliance has now acquired legacy electronics maker Kelvinator. Kelvinator had been defunct for years until Reliance in 2019 had signed an exclusive brand licensing, manufacturing, and distribution deal with Swedish appliance maker Electrolux, which owned the brand. Reliance presumably liked the results of licensing the brand, and has now purchased it fully.
“Our mission has always been to serve the diverse needs of every Indian by making technology accessible, meaningful, and future-ready,” said Isha Ambani, Executive Director at Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL). “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,” she added.
Kelvinator was an American company founded in 1914 which specialized in electric refrigeration units. It was named after Lord Kelvin, who had pioneered the Kelvin scale of temperature measurement. In the 1920s and 1930s, Kelvinator was a leader in the US in the refrigerator and air conditioning markets. Kelvintor changed many hands over the decades, and was eventually acquired by Electrolux.
In India, Kelvinator became popular during the 1970s and 1980s, with its tagline “The Coolest One”. Kelvinator eventually found it hard to compete in the Indian market, and its market share was taken over by newer brands. In 2019, Reliance revived the brand under an exclusive agreement, and has now acquired the brand outright.
It might be a smart strategy. Branding is half the battle in the consumer space, and Reliance seems to buy well-liked but defunct legacy brands, relaunch them, and then use its considerable distribution heft to take them to the masses. Like Campa, Kelvinator has immediate brand recall among most Indian consumers, and consumers will likely be able to trust it for big purchases. Reliance had already launched an electronics brand named Wyzr in 2024, which mainly sold air coolers, food processors and electric kettles. And with the Kelvinator brand also in its kitty, the company seems to be eyeing India’s consumer electronics market in a big way.