On Friday, Tata Sons Private Limited announced that Tata Digital has acquired a majority stake in BigBasket, an online grocery store. With this new deal, Tata Digital, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Limited, will be a tough competition to Amazon, Flipkart and Reliance Industries, which have already made their space in the digital market.
As per the media reports, in March, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the Tata-BigBasket deal, wherein the largest Indian conglomerate has a 64.3% stake in the online grocery for Rs 9,500 crore.
With BigBasket, Tata Group has expanded its power and authority in the retail space, where it owns electronics, jewellers, grocery and fashion verticals. This diversified conglomerate is in a row to launch its “super app” that will be one platform for its consumer businesses, according to media reports.
The deal has taken place at a time where people are switching to digital platforms for their purchases, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Tata Group is building a digital consumer ecosystem addressing consumer needs across categories in a unified manner, and online food & grocery is an important part of this ecosystem. Accordingly, this acquisition presents an attractive opportunity for Tata Group in its overall vision of creating a digital ecosystem,”, said a statement from the company.
“Grocery is one of the largest components of an individual’s consumption basket in India, and BigBasket is 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 exclaimed that 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 deal valuation has not been officially declared, but earlier reports suggested that the deal would be worth Rs 9,500 crore and it also includes buying out Alibaba’s stake in BigBasket.
Many major conglomerates were investigating to try their luck in the online grocery space since 2020 to solidify their positions in the rewarding market.