Mumbai: Furthering its attempt to expand its presence in India’s online retail market, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Sunday bought a 96 per cent stake in online furniture retailer Urban Ladder.
The Indian conglomerate is expanding its new commerce venture, which ties neighborhood stores to Reliance for online deliveries of groceries, apparel and electronics in a space currently dominated by Walmart Inc’s Flipkart and Amazon.
The purchase “will further enable the group’s digital and new commerce initiatives and widen the bouquet of consumer products provided by the group,” Reliance said in a filing to exchanges on Sunday.
RRVL, whose investment was worth Rs. 182.21 crore, has a further option of acquiring the balance stake. The further investment of Rs. 75 crore is expected to be completed by December 2023.
Urban Ladder was incorporated in India on February 17, 2012. It has been in the business of operating a digital platform for home furniture and decor products. The company was looking to sell for a sixth of its peak value, following resignations of some top executives and job cuts in 2019. During its peak in 2018, the startup had a valuation of ₹1200 crore.