India: Reliance Retail acquires 54% stake in Addverb Technologies for Rs10 billion

Reliance Retail made significant acquisitions in recent months.

Agencies file

By Our Reporter

Published: Tue 18 Jan 2022, 1:56 PM

Continuing its acquisition spree, Reliance Retail, one of the largest retailers in India, has acquired a 54 per cent stake in Addverb Technologies for nearly Rs10 billion (about $132 million).

Sangeet Kumar, co-founder and CEO, Addverb Technologies, told the media on Tuesday that the company, which will continue to operate independently, plans to expand its overseas business. “At present, 80 per cent of our revenue comes from India but this mix is expected to change to 50-50 between India and overseas business in the next 4-5 years,” said Kumar. “Our revenues from software contribute 15 per cent of the total, which is expected to grow significantly.”

Over the next five years, it plans to emerge as a billion-dollar company. “We do everything in India (design and manufacture) and deliver across the world,” said the entrepreneur. The company has subsidiaries in Singapore, the Netherlands, the US and Australia. While it will continue manufacturing in India, the subsidiaries will help it in designing new robots.

Reliance Retail made significant acquisitions in recent months. A few days earlier, it announced its emergence as the biggest shareholder in Dunzo, a Bangalore-based startup in the ultra-fast commerce segment. The $240 million deal, with Reliance accounting for $200 million, has doubled the valuation of Dunzo to $775 million.

The Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Retail also bought a 100 per cent stake in ‘amante,’ the retail lingerie business of Sri Lanka’s MAS Holdings in November.

A month earlier, it had acquired a 52 per cent stake in Ritika Pvt Ltd, one of India’s oldest fashion brands, owned by couturier Ritu Kumar, for an undisclosed sum. The company also acquired a 40 per cent minority stake in Manish Malhotra’s MM Styles.

In November 2020, Reliance had announced it had bought a minority stake in Acoserba Active Wholesale, which owns and operates the online lingerie store, Zivame.