Reliance Industries is going to purchase German retailer METRO AG’s Cash & Carry business in India in a deal valued at around 500 million euros (Rs. 4,060 crore), and the deal includes 31 wholesale distribution centres, land banks, and other assets owned by METRO Cash & Carry here.
This is going to benefit Reliance Retail, the country’s largest retailer, by expanding its presence in the B2B segment. The discussion between billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and METRO has been going on for the past few months, and last week the German parent firm agreed to the offer from Reliance Retail.
METRO Cash & Carry’s customers include retailers and kirana stores; hotels, restaurants, and caterers (HoReCa); corporates, SMEs, companies, and institutions. The B2B segment is considered a low-margin business, and multinationals such as Carrefour have exited the country in 2014.
In July 2020, e-commerce major Flipkart Group acquired a 100 percent stake in Walmart India Pvt. Ltd., which operates the Best Price cash-and-carry business.
Other retailers were also in the race to acquire METRO Cash & Carry, including Siam Makro, which operates Lots Wholesale’s cash-and-carry trading business under the brand name LOTS Wholesale Solutions. Last month, Siam Makro, part of the Charoen Pokphand Group of Thailand, announced its withdrawal from bidding for METRO Cash & Carry India. Metro AG, which operates in 34 countries, entered the Indian market in 2003. It operates six stores in Bengaluru, four in Hyderabad, two each in Mumbai and Delhi, and one each in Kolkata, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Zirakpur, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Indore, Lucknow, Meerut, Nasik, Ghaziabad, Tumakuru, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, and Hubballi.
Reliance Industries’ subsidiary, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd. (RRVL), is the holding company for all the retail companies under the group. RRVL had reported a consolidated turnover of around Rs. 2 lakh crores for the year ended March 31, 2022.