TATA moves ahead to acquire BigBasket, gets CCI nod; will compete with Amazon, RIL in e-grocery biz

Competition Commission of India (CCI) today gave the go-ahead for Tata Group’s proposal to acquire a majority stake in Alibaba-backed online grocery store BigBasket. Tata Digital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, will now acquire a 64.3% stake in the company, paving the way for a showdown in the online grocery business. BigBasket competes with Groffers in the segment which is backed by Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, and even Tiger Global.

The deal will see Tata Digital acquire 64.3% of the total share capital of Supermarket Grocery Supplies Private (SGS). With control over SGS, Tata Digital will also gain control of the Business to Consumer segment of BigBasket — Innovative Retail Concepts Private. While SGS the B2B (business-to-business) unit of BigBasket, Innovative Retail Concepts (IRC) is engaged in B2C sales.