Tata Digital, a subsidiary of Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., on Friday announced that it has acquired a majority stake in online grocery delivery startup — Bigbasket.
Earlier, in April, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had approved the deal. In a statement, CCI had said,
“CCI approves acquisition by Tata Digital Limited of up to 64.3 percent of the total share capital of Supermarket Grocery Supplies Pvt Ltd (SGS) and SGS’ sole control over Innovative Retail Concepts Private Limited.”
The online e-grocery platform operates across more than 25 cities and has one of the largest assortments of more than 50,000 stock keeping units (SKUs). The Bengaluru-based startup has also tied up with about 12,000 farmers and delivers products directly from them.
With this deal, Tata Digital has poised itself in direct competition with major conglomerates, including Reliance Industries’ Jio Mart, ecommerce giant Amazon Inc., and Walmart-owned Flipkart, in expanding its online grocery delivery footprint.
Hari Menon, Co-founder and CEO of BigBasket
Founded in December 2011 by Abhinay Choudhari, Hari Menon, Vipul Parekh, VS Ramesh, and VS Sudhakar, Bigbasket was backed by major investors, including Alibaba Group, Mirae Asset Ventures, and Trifecta Capital.
Speaking on the acquisition, Hari Menon, CEO, Bigbasket, said, “We are extremely excited about our future as part of Tata Group. As a part of the Tata Ecosystem, we would be able to build stronger consumer connect and accelerate our journey.”
The salt-to-steel conglomerate had set up Tata Digital in August 2019 to build digital consumer businesses across verticals, including travel, retail, and financial services.
The Tata Group had formally applied to the CCI to acquire a majority stake in the online grocery delivery company Bigbasket through its holding companies, which will be both primary and secondary transactions.
Pratik Pal, CEO, Tata Digital, said, “Grocery is one of the largest components of an individual’s 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 part of Tata Digital.”
