TATA SONS, the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies, has bought a majority stake in online grocery seller BigBasket.
The acquisition, carried out by Tata Digital Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, has put the Indian conglomerate in direct competition with other e-commerce players Amazon.com Inc, Walmart’s Flipkart and Reliance Industries.
"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 the Tata Digital," Pratik Pal, CEO of Tata Digital said in a statement.
The deal has come at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns have spurred a big shift among consumers to online shopping, especially for their food and grocery needs.
E-grocery has become one of the fastest growing segments in the consumer e-commerce space in India.
India's antitrust body, Competition Commission of India, had in March approved the acquisition of up to a 64.3 per cent stake in BigBasket by Tata Digital.
According to media reports, the deal is worth about £924.5 million, and will involve buying out Chinese giant Alibaba's stake in Bigbasket.
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