Reliance Retail Acquires Metro Cash & Carry The acquisition will add multi-category large format stores to Reliance Retail's store footprint across India and further strengthen its new commerce business
By Shrabona Ghosh •
Key Takeaways
- Through this acquisition, Reliance Retail gets access to a wide network of Metro India stores located in prime locations across key cities, a large base of registered kiranas and other institutional customers, and a strong supplier network.
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Reliance Retail Ventures Limited ('RRVL'), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd, signed definitive agreements to acquire 100 per cent equity stake in Metro Cash and Carry India Pvt. Ltd (Metro India) on Thursday, for a cash consideration of INR 2,850 crore.
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. Through this acquisition, Reliance Retail gets access to a wide network of Metro India stores located in prime locations across key cities, a large base of registered kiranas and other institutional customers, and a strong supplier network.
"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. We believe that Metro India's healthy assets combined with our deep understanding of the Indian merchant / kirana ecosystem will help offer a differentiated value proposition to small businesses in India," said Isha Ambani, director, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited.
"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. This, on 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," said Dr. Steffen Greubel, CEO of Metro AG.
With the acquisition of Metro India, Reliance Retail will continue to build reach across the country to serve the entire spectrum of households, kiranas and merchants, HoReCa and small and medium enterprises and institutions.
Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd and the holding company of all the retail businesses under the RIL group. RRVL, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, operates more than 16,500 own stores and partners with over two million merchants across grocery, electronics, apparel, pharmacy, lingerie, home and furnishing, beauty and personal care.
