Consumer durables company Videocon Industries has acquired Planet M, the music retail arm of BCCL (Times Group), for Rs 200 crore, reports Business Standard. The acquisition is by Videocon’s retail arm - NEXT. Interestingly, BCCL itself is an investor in Videocon.

Planet M has 150 stores in 42 cities, and has a turnover of around Rs. 150 crore, reportedly growing at 40 percent year-on-year for the last four years; Videocon wants to push this turnover to Rs. 1000 crore by investing Rs. 500 crore, with a target of 1000 stores. NEXT is targeting Rs. 2000 crore in turnover by next year. Planet M was set up by BCCL in 1999. Other players include RPG Group’s Music World, Mumbai-based Rhythm House and Groove…one often sees signs like “

Earlier there were reports of Planet M allowing digital downloads in their stores, and also looking at the DVD rental business. The CD sales have reportedly been declining, while sales of the iPod, and console games are doing well. They might switch to device retail now that a consumer durable company like Videocon has bought them over. Currently, the site http://planetm.co.in/ redirects to Indiatimes shopping.

• Planet M To Allow In-Store Digital Downloads As CD Sales Wane; Entering DVD Rental Business