The Competition
Commission of India has approved Tatas' proposal to acquire up to 64.3 per cent
stake in BigBasket, a deal that will provide the diversified group a strong
foothold in the fast-growing online grocery market.
Under the deal, Tata
Digital Ltd (TDL) will purchase up to 64.3 per cent of the total share capital
of Supermarket Grocery Supplies Pvt Ltd (SGS) as well as SGS sole control over
Innovative Retail Concepts Pvt Ltd.
SGS is into B2B
(business-to-business) sales through the portal business.bigbasket.com.
Innovative
Retail Concepts Pvt Ltd (IRC) is engaged in B2C (business-to-consumer) sales
through www.bigbasket.com and related mobile applications.
A wholly-owned subsidiary
of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, TDL provides technology services related to identity and
access management, loyalty programmes, offers and payments.
An official release on
Thursday said Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the proposed
deal of Tata group acquiring up to 64.3 per cent stake in Bigbasket.
The deal involves TDL
buying 64.3 per cent of the total share capital of SGS (on a fully diluted
basis) through a combination of primary and secondary acquisitions, in one or
more series of steps. This is the first transaction.
"It is stated that
subsequently, through a separate transaction, SGS may acquire sole control over
Innovative Retail Concepts Pvt Ltd (IRC) (transaction 2). Transaction 1 and
Transaction 2 are collectively referred to as the proposed combination.
"The
proposed combination will result in the acquisition by TDL of majority stake of
and control over SGS," the release said.
Founded in
2011, BigBasket operates in 25 Indian cities. It competes with SoftBank-backed
Grofers as well as Amazon India and Flipkart.
Deals beyond a
certain threshold require approval from CCI.