Alibaba could potentially sell $550m of shares in the deal, which has been given approval by regulators and which will give Tata a 64% stake in return for $1.2bn.

Diversified conglomerate Tata Group has secured regulatory approval to acquire a majority stake in India-based online grocer BigBasket, with e-commerce group Alibaba set to exit, according to the Economic Times.

The deal was agreed in February this year and is set to be conducted by the corporate’s Tata Digital subsidiary, which will pay a reported $1.2bn for a 64.3% stake in BigBasket, valuing it at nearly $1.87bn.

Tata Digital will make a primary investment of $200m to $250m with…

Robert Lavine

Robert Lavine is special features editor for Global Venturing.