Sep 17, 2018
BigBasket in merger talks with Grofers
Sep 17, 2018
Grocery startups BigBasket and Grofers are reported to be subject to a possible merger as the businesses’ respective investors, Alibaba Group Holding Limited and SoftBank Group Corp, look to team up to combat the threat from the Walmart-owned e-commerce giant, Flipkart.
Sources close to the matter told LiveMint that, should the deal go through, the merged entity of BigBasket and Grofers could raise up to $250 million (Rs 1,663 crore) from China’s Alibaba. SoftBank could also invest in the merged business, according to the other sources.
So far, neither BigBasket nor Grofers have made a statement on the matter and an Alibaba spokesperson stated that the business does not comment on “market speculations”.
Both BigBasket and Grofers are supermarket style chain stores that retail beauty products from a number of brands as well as food and home items. A merger between the two could prove fruitful as giants such as Amazon India and Flipkart, now owned by Walmart, are working to dominate the market.
Earlier in the year in March, Grofers raised $65 million from existing investors led by SoftBank and Tiger Global. Grofers is reported to be seeking further investment of around $120 million to $150 million. BigBasket was also rumoured to be in talks with Alibaba in May for a sizeable investment.
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