Reliance Industries (RIL) may buy online furniture brand Urban Ladder and milk delivery platform Milkbasket. The company is in talks to acquire both, according to a TOI report. The development comes at a time when the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate is said to be in talks to acquire players like -pharmacy startup Netmeds and lingerie retailer Zivame. According to the report, Reliance Industries' discussions with Urban Ladder have been going on for the last few months. The talks are now in the advanced stage, the report quoted four sources as saying. Citing one of the sources, the report further said a deal with Urban Ladder could be pegged at around $30 million, including further infusion in the business and earn-out for the management team. "They have got interest from other players as well and, while the discussions are advanced, a deal has not been finalized yet," another source said.
One of the sources said Milkbasket's previous talks with firms like Bigbasket and Amazon India haven't fructified due to valuation mismatch. "They (Milkbasket) are negotiating for a better valuation than previous suitors and are thus in discussions with RIL. The recent capital infusion of $5 million has bought them extra time," they said.
According to a Milkbasket statement in June, it serves over 100,000 households across Gurugram, Noida, Dwarka, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. RIL's online grocery venture JioMart recently said it has hit a peak of 400,000 orders a day.
