29 August 2017, India:
Paytm Mall, owned by Paytm Ecommerce Pvt Ltd and Chinese conglomerate Alibaba are keen to acquire significant stakes in online grocer BigBasket as per the report by ET.
BigBasket.com is one of India’s largest online supermarket and allows a customer to walk away from the drudgery of grocery shopping and welcome an easy relaxed way of browsing and shopping for groceries.
“What BigBasket has been missing is deep-pocketed investors till now, and if this deal goes through they will not have to worry about capital,” said a venture capital investor tracking the space.”
The Alibaba-Paytm Mall combine, which has begun due diligence, has offered to invest $200 million in BigBasket at a valuation of nearly $900 million post the investment. Paytm Mall has started due diligence of the accounts and operations of BigBasket, owned by SuperMarket Grocery Supplies Pvt Ltd. “(Even) before the due diligence, Paytm (Mall) has offered $200 million to own a majority stake in BigBasket… The final agreement will be made only after due diligence process gets over,” one of the sources told Factor Daily.
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Paytm Mall is equipping brand-authorized retailers with technology by opening Brand Stores on its mall. These stores allow brands to control inventory, promotions and return and replacement policies, expanding their reach to nearly every city in the country. This has helped millions of customers to have access to online brand stores and the largest and most comprehensive catalog to shop online.
The grocery retail market in India is growing at about 10% CAGR and is $400 Billion in size while e-grocery accounts to only 0.1%. Within this, the online grocery market is expected to be about $10 Billion in the next 4 years from now. (Source- ET, Image- BigBasket)
Also read- Everything You Wanted To Know About India’s Largest Online Supermarket – Bigbasket.com