Swiggy, Reliance and others bid for Metro🛒, Top priorities for Zomato-Blinkit🤝🏻, PCI seeks govt help💳
Swiggy and others bid for Metro AG’s India unit, Top priorities after Zomato-Blinkit deal, Payments Council seeks govt help on RBI rule, Funding Deals and more.
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Swiggy, Reliance, and PremjiInvest look to bid for Metro India unit🛒
Food delivery firm Swiggy is competing with Reliance Retail, Thailand’s largest conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group and PremjiInvest – the investment fund managed by the family office of Indian tech billionaire Azim Premji – to buy the Indian cash-and-carry operations of German retailer Metro AG.
The Tata Group and private equity fund Bain Capital are evaluating the $1-1.5 billion buyout opportunity but are yet to firm up any plans.
Metro AG had decided to exit India by selling its local operations, and at least 10 potential candidates including Reliance, CP Group, Flipkart, and D-Mart had been approached.
Zomato-Blinkit Deal: Fleet integration and customer cross-selling top priorities🤝🏻
Zomato plans to start integrating Blinkit on multiple fronts after its board approved the proposed acquisition.
Zomato’s board okayed its acquisition of quick commerce startup Blinkit for 4,447 crore ($570 million) in an all-stock deal on Friday. The company said the markdown in Blinkit’s valuation was due to macroeconomic factors.
During the analyst and shareholder call, Zomato executives indicated that once the transaction closes, the priorities would-be customers and delivery fleet integration. Zomato may consider moving Blinkit to the Zomato app.
“We will experiment with different ways of integrating the two customer bases or rather making sure that we are able to leverage Zomato’s customer base for the growth of Blinkit business,” said Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal.
Hot Shorts⚡
E-commerce giant Amazon has invested Rs 375 crore in its Indian logistics arm, Amazon Transportation Services.
Matter, a tech startup focused on electric mobility and energy storage, has raised an initial $10 million in its latest round of funding led by Capital 2B, a technology fund backed by Infoedge, Climate Angels Fund, and other HNI’s.
Vegan beauty and personal care brand ‘Plum’ has received an undisclosed investment from actor Rashmika Mandanna. Plum claims to have grown 15x since its first round of funding in 2018.
➡️ Check out our LinkedIn space for more on the funding deals.
Payments Council of India seeks govt’s help on RBI rule💳
The Payments Council of India (PCI) and several fintech firms have urged the government to step in to resolve the fallout from a recent directive by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which barred payment companies from loading credit lines onto wallets and prepaid payment instruments (PPIs).
The council – under the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) – said wallets that comply fully with know your customer (KYC) norms should be treated on par with bank accounts, and that they should be allowed to disburse credit.
This essentially means that it is seeking a reversal of the RBI order published last week.
It also said the current model of disbursing loans through a PPI has led to greater financial inclusion and movement towards a cashless future.
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