Reliance Industries Considers Acquisition Of Urban Ladder and Milkbasket

The Times of India reported that Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries (RIL) is in talks to buy online furniture brand Urban Ladder and milk delivery platform Milkbasket as RIL aims to compete with other e-commerce platforms.

According to the report, the discussion with Urban Ladder is now at an advanced stage. RIL may pay around $30 million to buy the company but the deal is yet not finalized.

Similarly, Milkbasket earlier had discussions with Amazon and Bigbasket but did not come to any conclusion because of the valuation mismatch. According to the TOI report, the recent capital infusion of $5 million has given the company a new lease of life and is negotiating over the valuation of the company.

The company serves over 130,000 households and fulfills the needs of an entire household with 9,000 products across fruits and vegetables, dairy, bakery, and other FMCG categories. It is currently operating in Gurgaon, Noida, Dwarka, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru.

Since the lockdown Milkbasket has witnessed a 2.2 to 2.5 times increase in average order value across 130,000 active user base while it has been onboarding 500-1,000 new signups daily. As more consumers have shifted to ordering groceries online, COVID-19 has given a fillip to e-commerce firms. According to Forrester Research, India’s online grocery market could hit $3 billion in sales this year, an increase of 76 percent over the previous year.

it is worth mentioning that the Mukesh Ambani led conglomerate is also in talks to acquire e-pharmacy startups like Netmeds and lingerie retainer Zivame as it aims to consolidate with Future Retail.