On Friday, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) wrote on Twitter that it had approved the “proposed acquisition by Zomato of approximately 9.3% stake in Grofers India and [Hands on Trades]”.
Commission approves proposed acquisition by Zomato of approximately 9.3% stake in Grofers India and Hands on Trad… https://t.co/2b11s4eDHC
— CCI (@CCI_India) 1628854258000
ET reported on May 7 that the Deepinder Goyal-led company was
finalising a $100 million investment in the e-grocer at a valuation of $1 billion. The food delivery app, which recently made its public market debut,
had sought the CCI’s approval to invest in Grofers in June.
The investment is part of Zomato’s larger push to get back into grocery deliveries, with its competitor Swiggy
doubling down on these with Instamart. Zomato has also relaunched its own grocery marketplace—Zomato Market—starting with Delhi-NCR.
In an
exclusive chat with ET, Goyal said Grofers was the only large online grocer left standing, and that was what prompted Zomato to back it.
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“We don’t have much idea (about online grocery) and are just trying to learn. We think it’s a big space, but we are not sure if we want to do it in the long term or not,” Goyal told ET last week. “The investment in Grofers is separate. We have our own grocery offering which is a marketplace model that went live in Delhi two-three days ago.”
In late June, Grofers
closed a $120 million investment from Zomato and Tiger Global, valuing it at a little over $1 billion. Tiger Global is an investor in both Zomato and Grofers.
On Friday, Zomato shares rose 1.55% to Rs 137.55 apiece on the BSE while the benchmark Sensex ended the day 1.08% higher at 55,437.29 points.
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