E-commerce firm Alibaba and payment and e-commerce platform Paytm have entered talks concerning a joint investment of $200m in India-based online grocer BigBasket, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
The round would value BigBasket at about $1bn, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations. Alibaba and Paytm are in a 60-day exclusive pact with regard to the deal and are conducting due diligence.
A separate source told Bloomberg that e-commerce firm Amazon, which recently received regulatory approval to sell groceries in India, is also in talks with the company over a possible investment.
BigBasket has built an e-commerce platform that offers more than 18,000 grocery items including meat, produce, beverages, seasonings and personal care products to customers in 21 Indian cities, and can deliver goods within 60 minutes.
The company has raised approximately $245m in equity funding and $7m in debt, most recently closing a $150m series D round in March 2016 at a $450m valuation.
Private equity firm Abraaj Group led the series D round, which included International Finance Corporation, Sands Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Helion Advisors, Zodius Capital and Ascent Capital, while LionRock Capital was among BigBasket’s earlier backers.
The online grocery space is rapidly becoming the next front in India’s e-commerce war. Online marketplace Flipkart is putting more resources into the segment, and Alibaba, which is already an investor in Paytm, has a broader strategic interest in the country.