Amazon bags 49% stake in Future Coupon

Amazon has announced the acquisition of  49% stake in Future Coupon led by Kishore Biyani.

For acquiring a 49% stake, comprising both voting and non-voting shares, Amazon has agreed to make an equity investment in Future Coupons Limited. Since Future Retail can’t directly sell stake in Amazon, it is routing it through one of its entities – Future Coupon. The financial details of the transaction are still awaited.

Over the past couple of years, Amazon has been buying stakes in offline retailers to ramp up its game against rival Walmart with an omnichannel approach. Amazon and Walmart are already engaged in an e-commerce rivalry in India, and recently both have been targeting on the offline retail front as well.

Currently, Future Retails counts of 1,557 stores and presence in 437 Indian cities. Whereas, Amazon has opened its biggest office building in the world in the Indian city of Hyderabad, the deal will open several avenues to leverage Future Group’s strong offline presence in the country.