With an aim to increase profit margin and establish a stronghold in India’s e-commerce market, Reliance Industries (RIL) is in talks to acquire multiple popular online platforms ranging from milk delivery, furniture, and pharmacy.
As per a report issued on The Times of India on Monday, the conglomerate is said to be in talks to acquire online furniture brand Urban Ladder, milk delivery platform Milkbasket along with e-pharmacy startup Netmeds and lingerie retailer Zivame.
Talks between the Reliance Industries and Urban Ladder are at an advanced stage, the report citing sources said. If the deal moves to the final stage, the two sides could seal the agreement at around $30 million including further infusion in the business.
Similarly, Milkbasket is inching close to the Reliance Industries after its discussions with e-commerce giant Amazon and online grocery platform BigBasket failed to reach to a fruitful end.
As per the source cited in the TOI report, the milk delivery platform is negotiating for a better valuation. The recent infusion of $5 million has given the firm some extra time to finalise a deal with RIL.
Milkbasket operates in cities like Gurugram, Noida, Dwarka, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. It serves around 1.30 lakh households and deals with over 9,000 products ranging a variety of categories including, dairy, FMGC, fruits and vegetables.
The COVID-19 infused lockdown has shifted more consumers to online platforms to buy their essential commodities. Like many other businesses, Mailkbasket too witnessed a sharp increase in its consumer base during this period.
Both Urban Ladder and Milkbasket did not comment on the report.
Apart from Urban ladder and Milkbasket, the TOI report did not provide any further details on Zivame, Netmeds deals.