UniverCell ropes in actor Madhavan  ( June '6,2007, HBL)

UniverCell Telecommunications India Pvt Ltd, that owns the UniverCell brand of multi-brand mobile phone retail chain, has signed on Tamil film star Madhavan for endorsement.

The company also plans to expand its retail network beyond Tamil Nadu with stores in Bangalore, Hyderabad and smaller cities in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

"We have located 10 stores in Bangalore which are all set to open by early next month," Mr Satish Babu, Managing Director, UniverCell, told Business Line.

Expansion

The Rs 120-crore company currently has 30 showrooms across Tamil Nadu. According to Mr Babu, it plans to open 70 more stores, including 20 each in Bangalore and Hyderabad, during the current fiscal. "Our target is to go pan-India with 300 stores and to take our turnover to over Rs 1,000 crore by 2008-09," he said.

UniverCell plans to raise about Rs 100 crore through equity dilution to fund its expansion plans.

The closely held company is talking to private equity buyers for dilution of up to 50 per cent of its equity.

During the last fiscal it added 18 stores to its network of 12.