Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has acquired equity shares of Urban Ladder Home Decor Solutions Private Limited (UrbanLadder) for a cash consideration of Rs 182.12 crore. The investment represents 96 per cent holding in the equity share capital of UrbanLadder. RRVL has a further option of acquiring the balance stake, taking its shareholding to 100 per cent of the equity share capital of Urban Ladder.
RRVL proposes to make a further investment of up to Rs 75 crore. The further investment is expected to be completed by December 2023. Urban Ladder was incorporated in India on February 17, 2012. Urban Ladder is in the business of operating a digital platform for home furniture and decor products. It also has a chain of retail stores in several cities across India. UrbanLadder's audited turnover was Rs 434 crore, Rs 151.22 crore and Rs 50.61 crore, and Net Profit/(Loss) of Rs 49.41 crore, Rs 118.66 crore and Rs 457.97 crore in FY 2019, FY 2018 and FY 2017 respectively.
The aforesaid investment will further enable the group's digital and new commerce initiatives and widen the bouquet of consumer products provided by the group, while enhancing user engagement and experience across its retail offerings. No governmental or regulatory approvals were required for the said investment. The investment does not fall within related party transactions and none of RIL's promoter/promoter group/group companies have any interest in the transaction.
This acquisition comes after Reliance Retail also bought the retail, wholesale and logistics business of Future Group in a slump sale for Rs 24,713 crore in August. As per research, Reliance Retail is the largest retailer in India and operates 12,000 stores, with 640 million footfalls across core categories of grocery, consumer electronics and apparel. Revenues for Reliance Retail in FY20 was Rs 1.63 trillion ($21.7 billion). Reliance Retail saw a strong recovery in Q2FY21, aided by easing of lockdowns