RIL’s recent acquisition of majority stake in Urban Ladder may look unfavourable for investors, but for the founders and the brand itself, it was a fire sale.
Urban Ladder’s management gave up more than half of its valuation after the acquisition by RIL, but the retail behemoth was not the only suitor in the fray.
Urban Ladder’s exit story is another example of inflated valuation and the consequent erosion of investor wealth. Will it impact online retail startups?
The deal market is awash with news in spite of the Covid-19 slowdown. And the latest to hit the headlines is the acquisition of Bengaluru-based online furniture retailer Urban Ladder Home Decor Solutions. On November 14, Reliance Retail Venture Ltd (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industry Ltd (RIL), announced an all-cash buyout of 96% stake in the company for a little over $24.5 Mn (INR 182.12 Cr). The RIL unit may also acquire the rest of the stake by December 2023 for another INR 75 Cr. But all that is history now…