RRVL, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd., a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. and the holding company of all the formats of Reliance retail including fuel retailing, FMCG retailing and Consumer Durables announced a formal take over of 40.9% stake in Justdial, a discovery platform with presence across the web, mobile, app and voice platforms, for Rs. 1,332 Cr with an option to make a public offer to acquire an additional 26% as per takeover norms prevalent in the country. Justdial had over 30 million listings and an active user base of 129 million which it has painstakingly built since 1996.
Mr. VSS Mani, Founder and CEO at Justdial, said in an official statement “Nearly 25 years ago, we had a vision to build a connected single platform dedicated to providing fast, free, reliable and comprehensive information to our users and connect buyers to sellers. Our vision has evolved to not only provide search and discovery but drive commerce across merchants through our B2B platform and enable further consumer to merchant commerce given our platform engagement. Our strategic partnership with Reliance enables us to realize this vision and transform the business going forward.”
This is yet another prized buy of Reliance Retail which is setting high standards to create an inclusive ecosystem, from retailing daily needs to luxury apparel, selling laptops and mobiles to casting music services through its JioSaavn App. Other recent buys of the company over the past 3 years include NetMeds (e-pharmacy), Zivame (Innerwear), Urban Ladder (furniture) and the iconic British toy retail chain, Hamleys. With the Justdial acquisition, Reliance is almost replete with a complete ecosystem, especially while including Jio – the telecom arm and the company would now cater to almost everything that is required for an average Indian.
The purchase of the discovery platform that is Justdial, would now strengthen the company’s retail initiative, whether offline or online with its Jio app, thereby routing all calls / communication to the company through Justdial and the company’s various Retail formats would become the first choice for millions of dial-in customers who pass by Justdial. It would be curious to note which other sector / format that Reliance would acquire to stonewall its Retail ecosystem on which Chairman Mukesh Ambani has seem to have set a deep focus over the past few years.