Walmart Inc. could buy a stake in the Tata Group for the super app of the salt-to-software conglomerate. Two people who know about the development said that the ‘super-app’ is meant to create a digital service that would offer a myriad of products in the retail world.
One of the two people said, “Tata group is in talks with Walmart for a deal entailing a strategic investment by Walmart in the super app platform business. The Walmart investment could touch $20-25 billion eventually for a large stake in the proposed super app to be hosted under a Tata Sons subsidiary.”
If the deal comes to fruition, it could very well be the nation’s largest deal in the retail space, overshadowing Walmart’s 66% stake in Flipkart back in May 2018, for an enormous $16 billion. The super app, which sources say might see the light of the day in December 2020 or January 2021, will amalgamate Tata’s wide range of businesses. This means the consumers would be able to shop for groceries, electronics, lifestyle, education, healthcare, insurance, other financial services, etc. under one umbrella organization.
“The super app may include Flipkart’s offerings from Walmart and the entire retail product franchise housed by the Tata group on one platform for retail customers. And on the other hand, Flipkart could get to be powered by Tata,” said the first person. “The super app may include Flipkart’s offerings from Walmart and the entire retail product franchise housed by the Tata group on one platform for retail customers. And on the other hand, Flipkart could get to be powered by Tata,” the first person said.
Tata currently has Tata Cliq, StarQuik, Tata Sky, and Croma under its e-commerce platform. Tata also sells Tata Tea, spices, lentils, sweetener. Moreover, Titan Co. Ltd. deals in fashion, jewelry, eyewear, etc. Tata’s Trent arm runs Westside while Tata unit’s Landmark is a bookstore chain that rivals the likes of Crossword. Compared that with Amazon and Jio, Tata has the largest branches of its franchise.
