Google is reportedly in talks with Paytm Mall to purchase a 7-10% stake in Future Retail worth Rs 3,500-4,000 crore, reports Economic Times. This consortium would enable them to take on Amazon's grocery offerings in India. For the Future group, the fund infusion would be through both primary and secondary share sale, which could result in dilution of the stock held by existing shareholders. The valuation of the deal would be based on Future Group’s claims that it has a footfall of over 500 million customers each year, the report said. Future Retail has around 1,035 stores across 250 cities including hypermarket brand Big Bazaar, grocery chain Easyday, and electronics store Ezone, among others in India. While Google, Alibaba and Paytm did not respond to MediaNama’s query’s on the matter, spokespersons of both, Future group and Amazon India said that they will not comment on market speculation. Major players interested in Future Retail Amazingly enough, this comes after reports suggested that Amazon, Alibaba and Walmart were all also in talks with the Kishore Biyani led company to buy a stake of a similar size. While some reports indicated that Amazon tied up with Chinese conglomerate Alibaba to buy a stake in the company earlier this year, others suggested that all four companies were also interested in buying individual stakes. According to the report by ET, Future Group founder and CEO Kishore Biyani had even met Jeff Bezos in the US and Alibaba officials in China to raise money. Preparing for the battle in…
