After successfully raising over $20 billion by selling stakes in JioPlatform, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited is aggressively strengthening its retail footprint in the country to take on the likes of Amazon and other e-commerce giants.
Reliance
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has gone on a shopping spree after the company successfully managed to become debt-free earlier this year. RIL chief Mukesh Ambani, who is Asia’s richest man, had earlier raised more than $20 billion this year by selling stakes in the company’s technology venture, Jio Platforms.
Now, the sixth-richest man in the world is looking to expand RIL’s product offerings by acquiring several local online retailers as it looks to take on other online retailers and e-commerce giants.
The 63-year-old tycoon is seeking to widen his retail footprint in a market that’s become a hot spot for global giants such as Amazon as well as many local rivals, all chasing billion-plus consumers. The business mogul last month outlined plans to rope in investors for his Reliance Retail Ltd., days after selling a combined 33% stake in Jio Platforms Ltd. – a digital services holding company — to partners including Facebook Inc. and Google.
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Reliance could pay as much as $160 million for Bangalore-based Zivame, the Economic Times reported earlier. The Urban Ladder deal could be pegged at about $30 million, while Netmeds at $120 million, local media have reported. Milkbasket, a milk delivery company, is also one of the targets, the Times of India reported Monday.
Ambani’s latest hunt for deals follows a wave of similar acquisitions that started around 2017. Since then, his group has purchased British toy store-chain Hamleys, local music streaming app called Saavn, logistics operation Grab a Grub Services and the Haptik artificial intelligence chatbot. Reliance is also closing in on a deal for stakes in some units of Indian retailer Future Group, people familiar with the matter said in June.
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Late last year, Ambani unveiled his shopping portal JioMart, which is now delivering in about 200 cities and towns. His chase for the assets comes at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted supply chains and dented sales at conventional retailers while boosting online orders from people under lockdown.
The talks are part of the intensifying war to win over the Indian shopper — both online and in physical stores. Amazon has pledged to invest $5.5 billion in the country, while Walmart Inc. spent $16 billion to buy local e-commerce leader Flipkart Online Services Pvt. in 2018.
