The subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), Reliance Retail Ventures has bought a majority of stake in the online furniture store Urban Ladder worth Rs 182.12 crore.
As per the stock exchange filing, 96% of the equity share capital of Urban Ladder has been bought by RRVL and it has the option of acquiring the balance stake, taking its shareholding to 100%.
By December 2023, Reliance Retail wishes to invest Rs 75 crore more.
“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,” added the flings.
An eight-year-old startup with stores online and offline, Urban Ladder's acquisition could trigger consolidation among other online retailers.
This is a major distress sale in the online furniture and decor space. In 2016, Future Group had acquired Rocket Internet owned Fabfurnish. Rocket had invested over $50 million in Urban Ladder, it was sold for less than $2 million.
Prior to this deal, Urban Ladder bagged over Rs 770 crore or $105 million from the likes of Steadview, Sequoia Capital, SAIF Partners and Kalaari Capital. The company has been struggling for the past two years to find new backers whereas existing investors had written it off long back.
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