Amazon may pick up stake in hypermarket chain More

Jeff Bezos controlled Amazon may acquire Aditya Birla food and grocery supermarket chain ‘More’ as leading media reports have highlighted. To achieve the same, the company is mulling over strategic ties with multi national investment bank Goldman Sachs and homegrown private equity fund Samara Capital. The current enterprise valuation of ‘More’ stands at Rs 4,500-5,000 crore. 

In the month of June this year Aditya Birla Retail (ABRL) has signed an agreement with private equity fund Samara Capital to sell its food and grocery retail chain ‘More’. This time Samara has reached out to Goldman Sachs and Amazon to join forces if sources are to be believed. 

With 49% stake, Amazon will play the part of strategic partner; therafter, the trio may form a separate company. As per the sources, the final announcement may come by the end of this month or early next month. 

The final structuring exercise is ongoing ahead of a formal announcement at the end of this month or early next month. As of now, Indian overseas investment laws, foreign companies can only hold up to 49% in multi-brand retailers like More.

 

Amazon, Goldman Sachs and Samara’s founder Sumeet Narang have not commented on this development.