TATA SONS BUYS MAJORITY STAKE IN E-GROCER BIGBASKET
BENGALURU: Tata Sons has acquired a majority stake in online grocery seller Bigbasket, putting the Indian conglomerate in a direct race with e-commerce players Amazon.com Inc, Walmart’s Flipkart and Reliance Industries.
The stake was bought by Tata Digital Limited, a unit of Tata Sons. Tata on Friday declined to give further details on the deal, while Bigbasket did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
India’s antitrust body had in March approved the acquisition of up to a 64.3% stake in Bigbasket by Tata Digital.
Media reports have said the deal is worth about ₹95 billion rupees ($1.31 billion), and will involve buying out Chinese giant Alibaba’s stake.
The deal comes as e-commerce sales, especially of food and groceries, have accelerated in India as the Covid-19 pandemic spurred a big shift to online shopping.
Tata, which has interests in products spanning from salt to luxury cars to software, has been planning to launch a “super app” that will tie in all its consumer businesses, according to media reports.
E-grocery has been one of the fastest growing segments in the consumer e-commerce space. The pandemic has further accelerated its adoption as consumers seek the convenience of ordering quality groceries delivered safely at home. According to a report by Redseer and Bigbasket, India’s e-grocery market is expected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2019 to $3 billion by the end of 2020. At an annual growth rate of 57%, it is expected to touch $18 billion by 2024.
Bigbasket delivers around 15 million orders per month in 30 cities across India.