The country's largest retailer Reliance Retail is planning to enter the salon business by acquiring a 49 percent stake in Chennai-based Naturals Salon & Spa, source said.

Reliance Retail, part of oil-to-chemicals conglomerate Reliance Industries, is in talks with the promoters of Naturals Salon & Spa, which operates over 650 salons across India. Naturals Salon & Spa, founded in the early 2000s, had the target to expand to 3,000 salons by 2025. After this acquisition, Reliance Retail would compete with players like HUL, which operates in the salon segment with the beauty brand Lakme.

Reliance Retail is evaluating the prospects to acquire Naturals, the sources said, without disclosing the amount in consideration. On the development, a Reliance spokesperson said: "Our company evaluates various opportunities on an ongoing basis". Naturals Salon & Spa CEO & Cofounder CK Kumaravel in a LinkedIn post said this is the "largest turn" in the history of the company as "a multinational entity is about to enter the salon industry".

"Reliance Retail is yet to acquire the 49 percent of Naturals' stake," he added. "And there is going to be huge growth from the total of 700 salons, there will be an increase of 4-5 times," Kumaravel said, adding "we will be witnessing the tremendous changes in the Naturals Salon & Spa over the upcoming years".

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