As part of expanding its empire, Reliance Retail has signed a definitive agreement with Metro Cash & Carry India to acquire a 100 per cent stake in the latter for a cash consideration of Rs 2,850 crore. The acquisition is subject to some closing adjustments and is expected to be completed by March 2023.
The acquisition will give Reliance Retail access to the vast network of Metro India stores and further strengthen Reliance Retail’s physical store footprint. Metro India stores are located across India’s key cities. It has a large base of registered kiranas and a supplier network.
A pioneer in the Indian B2B market, Metro India started operations in 2003. The multi-channel B2B firm was the first to introduce a cash-and-carry business in India. Currently, the company has 31 large format stores in 21 cities and employs 3,500 workers. It has more than 3 million B2B customers in India. One million of them are frequent buyers through its store network and eB2B app. Metro India’s best sales performance was in FY22 when it generated Rs 7,700 crores.
Reliance Retail believes that the collaboration will give boost small businesses in India. It will bolster Reliance Retail’s new commerce strategy of building a unique model of shared prosperity via active collaboration with small merchants and enterprises.
