Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries may buy these companies in near future

New Delhi: Mukesh Ambani, known for his sharp business acumen and incisive business strategy, seems to be getting ready for unleashing revolution in the e-retail business much like what Reliance Jio has done in the smartphone and telecom business.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is on a buying spree as it managed to become debt free earlier this year, reports said. The flagship company raised over $20 billion this year by inviting world majors to purchase stake in its telecom venture Reliance Jio Platforms. It is worth noting that Reliance Industries raised capital worth Rs 1,52,056 crore in the midst of a pandemic, by selling over 33% stake in its Reliance Jio platforms to partners such as Google and Facebook.

Reports suggest the RIL is planning to purchase many or buy stakes in consumer service businesses, to take on e-commerce retail giants in the country. Some of the companies, it is eyeing and pursuing actively are Urban Ladder, Zivame, Milkbasket , said reports.

Earlier in the day, RIL’s subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) acquired majority equity stake in Vitalic Health Pvt. Ltd. (“Vitalic”) and its subsidiaries collectively known as ‘Netmeds’ for a cash consideration of approximately Rs 620 crores.

Companies that Reliance may buy

TikTok

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) may buyout Chinese social media giant TikTok’s India business as initial talks are underway between the two. Reliance and ByteDance, parent company of TikTok, have held discussions over it but nothing final or official has yet come out.

TikTok chief executive officer (CEO) Kevin Mayer has reportedly approached senior RIL executives to gauge if the oil-to-telecom conglomerate is interested in picking up a stake in the app’s India unit. Following this, RIL and its digital arm Jio’s corporate development, strategy and M&A teams are weighing if any investment or acquisition is worthwhile at this stage.

Future Retail

Future Retail stock prices today surged almost 20% after reports emerged that RIL was in last-stage talks to buy controlling stake in Kishore Biyani-led Future Group.

The companies have reportedly reached a common accord regarding certain terms and conditions and a deal is likely to be announced soon. Reliance Industries might acquire Kishore Biyani-controlled Future Group’s retail business for Rs 24,000-27,000 crore.

Urban Ladder

In its plan to strengthen the company’s presence in the e-commerce market in India, Mukesh Ambani’s RIL is planning to acquire online furniture brand Urban Ladder, talks with whom are at an advanced stage, The Times of India reported.

If the talks move to the final stage, RIL could peg the deal at around $30 million and pump in more money to expand its presence in the online consumer business.

Milkbasket

Milkbasket was earlier negotiating with firms like Bigbasket and Amazon India but didn’t proper valuation. The firm is now negotiating for a better valuation than previous suitors and are thus is in discussion with RIL.

Milkbasket deals with over 9,000 products across different categories, including fruits, vegetables, FMCG, and dairy, and operates across Gurugram, Noida, Dwarka, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, serving around 1.30 lakh households.

Zivame

Ronnie Screwvala-owned Unilazer Ventures recently sold its entire 15% stake in Zivame to RIL’s subsidiary Reliance Brands. Zivame is known for its luxury brands like Jimmy Choo, Tiffany, Mothercare and with this stake, Reliance Brands may be looking at greater share in this thriving start-up. At present, Zodius is the largest shareholder in Zivame with about 60 per cent stake. Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad owns about 25 per cent.