The super app aims to create a digital services behemoth offering a wide range of products in the retail space, Mint said.
Walmart Inc is in talks with Tata Group for an
investment of up to $25 billion in the salt-to-software conglomerate's new
"super app", the Mint newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing
people familiar with the matter.
According to ongoing discussions between the two
companies, the super app could be launched as a joint venture between Tata and
Walmart, leveraging on the synergies between Tata's e-commerce business and
Flipkart, Walmart's e-commerce unit, according to the report.
The news comes as Reliance Industries, controlled
by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, raised over $20 billion from investors
including Facebook, Alphabet's Google, KKR & Co and Silver Lake Partners by
selling stakes in its digital business Jio Platforms.
Separately, Bloomberg News reported Tata
Group is in discussions with potential investors about stakes in its new
digital platform.
The Walmart investment could touch $20 billion to
$25 billion eventually for a large stake in the proposed super app that will be
hosted under a Tata Sons unit, according to the Mint report.
The super app, which is scheduled to be launched in
India in December or January, will bring together Tata's consumer business
under one channel offering a wide range of products in the retail space, Mint
said.
Tata's consumer businesses include watch and jewellery brand Titan and fashion retail chain Trent.
Shares of Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and Tata Steel gained more than 1 per cent each, with TCS the top boost to the Nifty 50 index.
If the Walmart deal goes through, it will top its investment in Flipkart, for which the US-based company paid $16 billion for a 66 per cent stake.
Mint said Walmart had hired Goldman Sachs as the banker for the proposed deal. Tata Group, Walmart and Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
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