Reliance Retail to acquire 66.95% stake in Justdial for Rs 3,497 cr

Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited, has acquired a controlling stake in Justdial Limited for Rs 3,497 crore. Reliance Retail will hold 40.95 per cent, and will make an open offer to acquire up to 26 per cent in accordance with takeover regulations, the company said. The Justdial deal will allow Reliance access to the 25-year-old listings company’s merchant database.

Justdial founder and CEO VSS Mani will continue to lead Justdial as managing director and chief executive, said Reliance Retail. "Reliance Retail would make a public announcement to the public shareholders of Just Dial to acquire up to 2.17 crore equity shares of Justdial, representing 26 per cent in accordance with SEBI takeover regulations," a company statement said.

Isha Ambani, Director of RRVL, said Reliance is excited to partner with Justdial. "The investment in Justdial underlines our commitment to new commerce by further boosting the digital ecosystem for millions of our partner merchants, micro, small and medium enterprises."

Also read: Will the Justdial acquisition add value to Reliance Retail?

VSS Mani said nearly 25 years ago, the company visioned to build a platform for providing fast, free, reliable and comprehensive information to users, and connect buyers to sellers. "Our strategic  partnership with Reliance enables us to realise this vision and transform the business going forward,” he added.

Justdial is the market leader in the local search engine segment with 150 million average quarterly unique visitors. Both sides have been engaging in talks since April. There were reports earlier that Justdial engaged in talks with Tata Sons for an investment opportunity in Tata Digital’s super app. However, those talks seem to have ended abruptly.

Reliance Retail, the largest and most profitable retailer in India, had booked a turnover of Rs 157,629 crore and net profit of Rs 5,481 crore in FY21.

Just Dial had 30.4 million listings and 129.1 million quarterly unique users across web, mobile, app and voice platforms as of March 31, 2021.The company recently launched its B2B marketplace platform, JD Mart, to connect India’s manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, to connect to customers.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor, JM Financial as manager to the  open offer, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and Khaitan & Coas legal advisors and Deloitte as accounting and tax advisors to Reliance Retail.Goldman Sachs acted as exclusive financial advisor, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as legal advisor and Ernst & Young provided tax advisory and diligence services to Justdial and its promoters.