/
•
•
Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
In the digital world, Mukesh Ambani is a man in a hurry, hoping to catch up with the biggies. To that end, he is going to flog the Just Dial horse.
Editor's note: To call it an unusual deal would be an understatement. When Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, part of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd, announced last week that it would pay as much as Rs 3,497 crore to buy a 40.95% stake in Just Dial, a company that makes nearly all its money by listing small businesses on its website, there were two things about the deal that didn’t add up. 1. Just Dial appeared to be a company that didn’t have much of a future, as much of the information on its website was increasingly available for free on the internet. It’s revenues were flagging and its market valuation had halved since hitting a peak after listing in 2013. Besides, founder V.S.S. Mani had made multiple unsuccessful attempts to change its business model. 2. The Just Dial deal is the biggest domestic acquisition in Reliance’s history (its Rs 24,713 crore deal with the Future Group is yet to close as US-based e-commerce major Amazon has contested it). Over and above the Rs 3,497 crore, Reliance will also make an open offer …
While the Rs 9,000 crore promoter investment in Q1 brings a measure of reassurance, investors will still have to wait for Jio and retail to work through their challenges.
Reliance Consumer Products is relying on aggressive pricing in the hope that its staples brand will become a household name. But such tactics can go only so far.
Mukesh Ambani wants investors to price Reliance Industries’ IPO-bound telecom arm like a technology business. In reality, Jio’s tech ambitions remain a work in progress.
