Tata Group, the car to tea conglomerate, has been looking to build a ‘superapp’ in the second most populated country in the world-something that has been hinted at quite a lot in the last few months. Now, it looks like it is ready to march on forward, as a report from TechCrunch suggests that Tata Group has agreed to buy a majority stake in e-grocery BigBasket.
According to sources, Tata Group will acquire a stake greater than 60% in BigBasket, in a deal that would value the company somewhere between $1.8 billion to $2 billion.
This news does not come as a surprise, as murmurs of Tata being interested in BigBasket have been doing the rounds of internet for months now. In fact, the first whisper about a possible deal between the two companies was heard in October, when Bloomberg reported that Tata is looking to acquire BigBasket as it aims to build “an e-commerce gateway for its consumer products and services ranging from beverages to jewelry and resorts.”
ET has also been talking to sources, and reported that Tata Group and BigBasket are in advanced talks, and may be closing in on an announcement really soon.
With Tata acquiring the grocery delivery startup, Chinese backers like Alibaba (as well a few other investors) will exit from BigBasket, as tensions between the two neighboring countries continue to affect business.
Tata is looking to build a platform that can compete with the likes of JioMart and Amazon, in an attempt to the massive and growing internet market of India. It was reported in September 2020 that Walmart might pour up to $20-$25 billion for this project, but since then, nothing substantial has come out.
With the acquisition of BigBasket, Tata Group will come one step closer to being a viable competition for Reliance’s JioMart, which has seen massive success in the last year.
Competition is heating up in India, and with Amazon facing consecutive losses against its fight with Future Group, Indian players like Reliance and Tata Group might be able to shine through.
