MUMBAI: Reliance Retail Ventures, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, signed definitive agreements to acquire 100 per cent equity stake in Metro Cash and Carry India for a total cash consideration of Rs 2,850 crore, subject to closing adjustments.
The transaction is subject to certain regulatory and other customary closing conditions and is expected to complete by March 2023, Reliance Retail said.
Through this acquisition, Reliance Retail said it gets access to a wide network of Metro India stores in prime locations across key cities, a large base of registered kiranas and other institutional customers, strong supplier network and some of the global best practices implemented by Metro in India.
The acquisition would further strengthen Reliance Retail’s physical store footprint and ability to better serve consumers and small merchants by leveraging synergies and efficiencies across supply chain networks, technology platforms and sourcing capabilities, the company said. The symbiotic relationship will create greater value for all stakeholders in the retail ecosystem.
Metro India started operations in India in 2003 as the first company to introduce cash-and-carry business format in the country and currently operates 31 large format stores across 21 cities with about 3,500 employees, according to a statement from Reliance Retail.
It added that the multi-channel business-to-business (B2B) cash and carry wholesaler has reach to over 3 million B2B customers in India, of which 1 million are frequently-buying customers, through its store network and eB2B app.
In the financial year 2021-22 fiscal ended September 2022, Metro India generated sales of Rs 7,700 crore, which the company stated it to be its best sales performance since its market entry into India.
Isha Ambani, Director, Reliance Retail Ventures, said, “The acquisition of Metro India aligns with our new commerce strategy of building a unique model of shared prosperity through active collaboration with small merchants and enterprises.
Metro India is a pioneer and key player in the Indian B2B market and has built a solid multi-channel platform delivering strong customer experience.”
She also said, “We believe that Metro India’s healthy assets combined with our deep understanding of Indian merchant/kirana ecosystem will help offer a differentiated value proposition to small businesses in India.”
Steffen Greubel, Chief Executive Officer, Metro AG, said, “With Metro India, we are selling a growing and profitable wholesale business in a very dynamic market at the right time. We are convinced that in Reliance we have found a suitable partner who is willing and able to successfully lead Metro India into the future in this market environment.”
He also added, “This in one hand will benefit both our customers and our employees, for whose loyalty and performance we are very grateful, and on the other hand will enable Metro to focus on accelerating growth in the remaining country portfolio.”
With the acquisition of Metro India, Reliance Retail said it will continue to build reach across the country to serve the entire spectrum of Indian society. (ANI)