Google and Paytm mall may come together to form consortium for picking up 7%-10% stake in Future Retail Ltd (FRL), people privy to the matter claimed. Sources claimed that the consortium is planning to invest Rs 3,500-4,000 crore in Kishore Biyani’s company, which owns super market chain Big Bazaar.
This consortium will be competing against U.S. based retail giant Amazon, which is also pursuing talks to pick up minority stake in FRL. According to Economic Times, Biyani had already met Jeff Bezos in the US and Alibaba’s officials in China to initiate the discussions.
Analysts claim that Biyani’s efforts to bring foreign investment into the company make lot of sense. The company is planning to swell its cash-coffers to take on deep pocketed players that are vying for a share in India’s trillion dollar market, analysts add.
Biyani, Google and Paytm Mall have refused to comment on the report.
Over the year Biyani has bought several supermarket store chains to consolidate FRL’s presence in country’s burgeoning retail space. The company is now believed to own retail space of nearly 13.6 million sq ft across the country.
However, Biyani’s quest for expansion has given rise to need for long term alliances, analysts claim.
People close to the matter are also claiming that a private equity fund may also join Paytm Mall and Google’s mega alliance to pick up stake in FLR. But the identity of this private equity fund is still unknown.
Separately, Google is seriously planning to introduce its online shopping platform Google Express to India. According to reports, the search giant may launch Google Express ahead of the festive season of Diwali.
Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. recently picked up stakes in Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com and India’s Fynd. It seems that the American internet giant is leaving no stone unturn to gain deeper foothold in lucrative e-commerce markets of world’s two most populous countries.