Amazon, Samara Capital buy India’s retail chain More
Samara Capital, a private equity company, has teamed with Amazon to buy Indian grocery retailer More from Aditya Birla Retail.
While the value of the deal has not been disclosed, it is reported a person close to the transaction putting it at around ₹4,200 crore (US$584 million).
It is believed Amazon’s stake in the business will be capped at 49 per cent to comply with Indian foreign investment regulations. The balance will be held by Samara Capital, which is an Indian entity founded by former Citigroup executives.
Amazon has already committed US$500 million to build its food retailing business in India, where it sees massive opportunity for growth.
Analysts say that by investing in More, Amazon can build both online and offline food retailing operations simultaneously and find ways to marry the two. But it faces intense competition from Walmart which spent $16 billion acquiring Flipkart in a deal completed last month.
More operates more than 500 supermarkets and 20 hypermarkets, ranking it fourth among Indian grocery retailers.