At a time when American retail giant Walmart has acquired a 77 percent stake for USD 16 billion in a bid to bolster its presence in India, Future Group is looking to sell minority stake to a global investor.
India’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer Future Group is looking to sell at least 10 percent of its stake to a global retailer, according to a report by The Economic Times.
The development comes just a day after American retail giant Walmart acquired a 77 percent stake for USD 16 billion in a bid to bolster its presence in India.
Future Group founder Kishore Biyani told the newspaper, “I will sell a minority stake to the strongest global retailer,” without taking any names.
The report, however, cites a person close to the development as saying that Biyani has held early negotiations with Walmart and Amazon.
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While India does not allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail the report suggests that the said global investor could invest in Future Group through an investment arm, similar to the route taken by Amazon while picking up 5 percent stake in Shoppers Stop.
The report adds that over the last few months, Biyani has met Amazon and Walmart’s top brass in a bid to setup a strategic partnership.
“India will be ultimately be an ecosystem where you acquire a customer and do business with him across all categories…from healthcare, travel, education to financial services and entertainment,” Biyani told the newspaper.
“Ultimately it will be a customer ecosystem that will be built and in India, alliances will be formed to build such ecosystems. We will also align with many players to build our ecosystem,” he said according to the report.