Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN could take its India ambitions to the next level through a partnership with a local player, according to a new Bloomberg report.
The Amazon-Reliance Report: The U.S. e-commerce giant is negotiating with Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, to buy a $20-billion stake in the business, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Reliance Retail is a subsidiary of Ambani's flagship company Reliance Industries Ltd, or RIL. RIL is contemplating offloading as large as a 40% stake in the retail subsidiary, Bloomberg said.
The speculation led to strong buying in RIL shares, which rose 7.1% to a record high at the Bombay Stock Exchange.
In late July, there was speculation surrounding Amazon potentially buying a 9.9% stake in RIL's retail arm.
A Win-Win Partnership: If the deal is consummated, Amazon could gain a strong foothold in the Indian retail market.
The decision to tie-up with RIL is considered a smart move after Amazon's unsuccessful venture in China, where it opted to go solo.
A deal with Reliance would open for Amazon an avenue into brick-and-mortar retail, which is still huge considering the very low penetration of e-commerce in India, Bloomberg said.
Any potential deal could invite antitrust scrutiny due to the market concentration risk stemming from a partnership between the biggest online retailer and India's largest offline retailer, the report said.
Reliance previously sold a $20-billion stake in Jio Platform Ltd, its technology venture, to investors including Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG and Facebook, Inc. FB.
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