Tata Sons has acquired a majority stake in popular online grocer BigBasket through its subsidiary, Tata Digital Limited. The majority stake acquisition in BigBasket will help the conglomerate take on the likes of Amazon, Walmart’s Flipkart, Reliance’s JioMart and Softbank-backed Grofers.
A regulatory filing by Tata Digital suggests that it has acquired a little over 64 per cent stake in Supermarket Grocery Supplies, which is BigBasket’s business-to-business entity. Neither Tata Sons nor BigBasket has given any more details about the deal as of now.
“Grocery is one of the largest components of an individual’s consumption basket in India, and BigBasket as India’s largest e-grocery player, fits in perfectly with our vision of creating a large consumer digital ecosystem. We are delighted to welcome BigBasket as a part of Tata Digital,” said Pratik Pal, CEO of Tata Digital.
Meanwhile, Hari Menon, co-founder and CEO of BigBasket, said the company was “extremely excited” about the future as part of Tata Group.
“As a part of the Tata ecosystem, we would be able to build a stronger consumer-connect and accelerate our journey,” Menon added.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had earlier approved Tata Digital’s proposal to acquire 64.3 per cent stake in BigBasket
While the price of the deal has not been officially declared, reports had earlier indicated that the deal would be worth Rs 9,500 crore and will also involve buying out Alibaba’s stake in BigBasket.
The deal comes at a time when e-commerce sales have been growing in India, especially food and groceries, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in India.
Many major conglomerates have been investing in the online grocery space since 2020 to solidify their positions in the growing market.
Tata’s acquisition of BigBasket could be a part of the conglomerate’s bigger plan to launch a “super app” that will serve as a holistic platform for all its consumer businesses.
