CCI Approves Reliance Industries Rs. 2,800 crore Acquisition of Metro AG’s India Business

CCI Approves Reliance Industries Rs. 2,800 crore Acquisition of Metro AG’s India Business

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved Reliance Retail Ventures’ (RRVL’s) Rs. 28.50 billion acquisition deal of German Firm Metro Cash and Carry India Business.

RRVL a subsidiary of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries, while METRO Cash and Carry India is engaged in wholesale operations in India.

In December, 2022, RRVL had signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 per cent stake in the German firm Metro AG’s wholesale operations in India.

Metro started operations in India in 2003. It was the first company to launch cash-and-carry business format in India and has currently 31 large format stores in more than 20 cities in the country.

The multi-channel Business-to-Business (B2B) cash-and-carry wholesaler reaches over 3 million B2B customers in India, of which 1 million are frequently buying customers, through its store network and eB2B application.

Reliance Industries signed a deal to acquire METRO AG's Cash & Carry business in India. The deal included 31 wholesale distribution centres, land banks and other assets owned by METRO Cash & Carry in the country.

Through the acquisition deal RRVL gains access to a wide network of METRO India stores across key cities, a large base of registered mom-and-pop stores (kiranas), other institutional customers, and supplier network, it stated in its release.

“The acquisition will further strengthen RRVL’s physical store footprint and ability to better serve consumers and small merchants by leveraging synergies and efficiencies across supply-chain networks, technology platforms, and sourcing capabilities. The symbiotic relationship will create greater value for all stakeholders in the retail ecosystem,” the release said.

The CCI while approving the deal was of the view that the proposed combination does not raises any competition concerns in any plausible market, and therefore, the precise scope of the relevant market may be left open.