Shoppers Stop discusses selling Hypercity to Future Retail

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Oct 5, 2017

Shoppers Stop is in discussions over the possibility of selling Hypercity, its supermarket chain, to Future Retail and has also announced that it is selling five percent of its equity share to Amazon India.

Hypercity, the large scale supermarket chain owned by Shoppers Stop, currently has close to 20 large scale outlets across Indian metros. The business has been experiencing some financial difficulties for some time as their main rival, Future Retail owned Big Bazaar, has seen increased success. Shoppers Stop is in discussions about possibly selling the chain to free themselves from its difficulties.

Future Retail is currently taking over regional brands that are similar to Big Bazaar in order to increase their retail presence and percentage of the market share. Although no official statements have been made, a 700 crore rupee deal (approximately 105 million dollars) is estimated through selling of shares and movement of Hypercity’s debt.

On September 30, Shoppers Stop sold 43.96 lakh shares to the e-commerce giant Amazon India which totalled five percent of their equity share. The sales from Shoppers Stop’s shares will aggregate to 179.26 crore rupees (approximately 26.94 million dollars) on a preferential basis.

Shoppers Stop Ltd is the Raheja Group’s chain of large scale multi brand department stores and they have a strong online presence. The e-commerce arm of Shoppers Stop is currently hosting a large festive season sale and occupies the “bridge to luxury” section of the market. Shoppers Stop launched their new collection online on October 3 featuring their festive season designs.