Tata seeks CCI nod to acquire up to 64.3% stake in BigBasket

Indian conglomerate Tata Sons plans to buy a majority stake in Alibaba-backed online grocery seller BigBasket, a filing with the country’s antitrust body showed on Friday.

The deal, if approved, would put Tata – a more than 150-year-old group with interests in everything from luxury cars to software – in direct competition with Amazon, Walmart’s Flipkart and an upstart grocery service from Reliance Industries, backed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

In the filing with the Competition Commission of India, Tata Digital Ltd, a wholly owned unit of Tata Sons, proposed to buy 64.3 per cent of an entity that runs business-to-business sales for BigBasket.

Media agencies have reported that the group aims to take control of more than 60% of BigBasket, buying out Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s stake.