Reliance Industries Limited is in talks with the Mumbai-based hyperlocal logistics startup Grab Services Pvt. Ltd., to buy a huge stake, while the transaction size is not known yet.
Grab is a startup founded in 2014, by Pratish Sanghvi, Jignesh Patel, and Nishant Vora. The startup is a third-party logistics services that deliver food for delivery companies, grocery deliveries, and online pharmacy. Grab has raised over Rs 30 crores from investors including Oliphans Capital, Sixth Sense Ventures, SIDBI, Zomato, and Aramex-a Dubai-based logistics firm. It has got notable clients in their lists like Big Basket, Big Bazaar, Flipkart, Amazon, and McDonald’s. Currently, it runs in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad.
If the acquisition of the Grab is successful, Reliance will enter into the e-commerce industry and no doubt it will be a tough contender for other logistic services. Last year, Ambani reported that they are in plans to enter into Online-to-Offline (O2O) business, leveraging the custom business of Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail.
Ambani on this rollout said that the business will be commencing from Gujarat. He also adds that the new e-commerce platform will enrich and empower the 12-lakh small retailers and shopkeepers in Gujarat. The initiation is expected to compete against the e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart who runs 80% of the market right now.
Last year, Reliance acquired Saavn music which incorporated Jio Music, now valued at $1billion; and also edutech startup Embibe.
Beginning of the February, it announced three deals in a row, including an acquisition of startup Reverie a vernacular language service for Rs 190 crores.
