Tata’s BigBasket platform does not rule out an IPO in three years but currently looks to expand local reach.
According to reports, Tata Group’s BigBasket might opt for an IPO listing by 2025 following its $200 million fundraiser. The funding exercise valued the Indian e-commerce firm at a lofty $3.2 billion and has inspired it to expand its pan-India reach.
The Tata Group BigBasket may choose to launch an initial public offering (IPO) not later than 36 months from now. However, according to chief financial officer Vipul Parekh, the company remains open to generating more private capital in the interim. Bolstered by the $200 million BigBasket announced this week, Tata looks to consolidate its quick commerce arm and push for faster product delivery throughout India. This agenda is part of India’s largest online grocer’s plan to steepen its dominance over the sector giants such as Reliance Industries Ltd (NSE: RELIANCE) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN).
Tata-owned BigBasket Eyes Local Expansion Ahead of Planned IPO
Further elaborating on how BigBasket could deploy the fresh funds, Parekh suggested an even split between capital expansion and newer territory marketing. According to the CFO, the leading Indian e-commerce platform will increase the number of BB Now-supplying dark stores. BB Now is BigBasket’s quick commerce format that claims to deliver household items in 30 minutes or less. Parekh noted that the number of stores might swell from 200 outlets to 300 by March next year.
Parekh also said BigBasket currently operates in 55 cities and intends to scale operations to 75 cities by next March. In addition, he pointed out that the online grocer is present in around 450 towns and looks to scale up visibility over the next year. According to Parekh, Tata’s BigBasket could onboard as many as 100 more towns within the same period.
Other Related Tata News Recap
Meanwhile, in 2021 Tata Digital applied with the Competition Commission of India to acquire as much as 64.3% of the total share capital in Supermarket Grocery Supplies Private Ltd. The latter is BigBasket’s business-to-business entity and could be of immense benefit to Tata Digital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.
Tata Digital is in the business of providing identity and access management technology services to clients. In addition, the platform runs operations surrounding loyalty programs, offers, and payments.
The Tata Group conglomerate currently operates 29 publicly-listed Tata-affiliated companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, and Tata Motors. Altogether, these companies had a combined market cap of $311 billion as of March 2022.
Tata Motors is notable for its British premium car-making subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover. In February last year, the British luxury automobile unit announced plans to go all-electric by 2021. A statement by Jaguar Land Rover read at the time:
“In the next five years, Land Rover will welcome six pure electric variants as it continues to be the world leader of luxury SUVs. All Jaguar and Land Rover nameplates to be available in pure electric form by the end of the decade; first all-electric Land Rover model in 2021.”
Following the announcement back then, Tata Motors stock (NYSE: TTM) climbed 0.75%.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
