The next major acquisition by the Tata Group is likely to be in the fintech space as part of its strategy to build a super application.
The company is likely to acquire a stake in a payment gateway company or a payment wallet company, said two people in the know.
“Tata group is soon going to acquire a company which gives them access to the digital financial services market. They are exploring several companies and soon are likely to acquire one of them,” said one of the sources.
Digital push
The Tata group plans to offer a host of products and services across e-commerce, financial services, fashion, lifestyle, among others, under the new super app platform. Tata Digital has been entrusted to build this platform and in the last few months the company has picked up majority stakes in a slew of online companies including BigBasket, Curefit, JustDial, Soulfull, 1mg and now, reports suggest it is likely to acquire Dunzo as well.
A fintech expert, requesting anonymity, said acquiring a wallet or a payment gateway company has been on Tata’s cards for a very long time, and it is only inching closer to a deal with a player.
Reports have also suggested that the Tatas are likely to set up a neobank under the super app umbrella which will offer financial services including mutual funds.
Lloyd Mathias, Investor and Business Strategist, recently told BusinessLine: “Clearly the Tata’s recognise the importance of the digital space and while they may be later entrants they can quickly catch up with some key acquisitions. While there is already significant consolidation around Reliance’s JioMart, Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, the Tata’s want to ensure they have a play in this growing space that will become increasingly dominant over time.”
Pilot version
The motive of this super app is to cross-sell and upsell the products and services and keep the customers hooked on to the app. The app is expected to launch in September on a pilot basis. A team of 20 members is working on it.
The Tata Group did not respond to BusinessLine's query.