Kishore Biyani selling minority stake in Future Group to global retailer: Reports

Biyani has reportedly held early talks with Walmart and Amazon.

New Delhi: Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani may silently be preparing to sell minority stake of his group to a global retailer, as per a financial daily.

In an interview to the Economic Times, Biyani said that he will sell “minority stake to the strongest global retailer” without naming any particular buyer.

Quoting sources, ET said that Biyani has held “early talks with Walmart and Amazon” for selling as much as 10 percent stake in his company.

The report comes a day after the mega Flipkart-Walmart deal. Walmart Inc has announced acquisition of 77 percent stake in Flipkart for about USD 16 billion (Rs 1.05 lakh crore) in the largest e-commerce deal which will give the US retailer access to the Indian online market that is estimated to grow to USD 200 billion within a decade.

The deal, under which co-founder Sachin Bansal and Japan's Softbank Corp Group are exiting, values Flipkart at USD 20.8 billion. It is the biggest M&A deal in India this year.

The record deal will also give Walmart an opportunity to partner with the local leader in growing market, as the e-tailer`s leadership team will be supported by investment and technology partners.

Biyani termed the Flipkart-Walmart deal as "just an event of change of ownership". He told PTI, "I think nothing changes, only the ownership has changed. The model is still the same."

He further said, "It's just an event. It is the change of hands from one foreign investor to other foreign investor; from a financial investor to a strategic investor."

In January, Biyani had said that Future Group is expecting its retail business to reach Rs 40,000 crore in 2018-19. "We will touch Rs 40,000 crore by next year as a Group. Future Group. Currently, this year, we should be Rs 30,000 crore," he had said.