Tata Group will infuse $200-250 million primary cash in BigBasket as part of its deal to acquire a majority stake in the online grocery company.
The larger $1.2 billion deal to acquire majority 60 percent stake in BigBasket includes a mix of primary and secondary sale of shares, a source told The Economic Times.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
The deal, which would the largest in India’s online consumer sector, is expected to close over the “next few days” and will value BigBasket at $1.6 billion. It will also relieve current investors Alibaba (27.58 percent) and Abraaj Group (18.05 percent) fully from their shares in the company, besides partial exits for other smaller investors, another source said.
The long term plan is for an initial public offering (IPO) by FY23 with Tata Group holding the first right of refusal for shares of investors who would like to exit then. Notably, BigBasket co-founders Abhinay Choudhari, Hari Menon, Ramesh VS, Vipul Parekh and VS Sudhakar own little more than 5 percent stake in the company.
Besides this deal, Tata is also said to be close to acquiring a 55 percent majority stake in online pharmacy 1mg through a secondary transaction of $200-250 million, sources told the paper.
Tata Group, BigBasket and 1mg did not respond to queries, as per the report.
The report noted that both investments will supplement Tata Group’s planned digital services super app, aimed at giving customers a single point of access.