Amazon seeks CCI’s nod to buy Catamaran’s stake in Cloudtail

Bengaluru: Ecommerce major Amazon and Catamaran Ventures, the investment office of Infosys cofounder NR Narayana Murthy, said in a joint statement that the former will acquire the latter’s stake in Prione, which houses Cloudtail, one of the largest sellers on Amazon In India.

This is subject to regulatory approval, for which Amazon has made a filing with the Competition Commission of India (

), a person aware of the matter said.

In August, the two companies
mutually decided to not continue their joint venture beyond the end of its current term ending on May 19, 2022.

“Amazon will acquire Catamaran’s shareholding in Prione in compliance with applicable laws including all assets and liabilities. The businesses of the joint venture shall continue under the leadership of the current management and on receipt of regulatory approvals, the board of Prione and Cloudtail will take steps to complete the transaction in compliance with applicable laws,” the statement said.

Catamaran has a 76% stake in Prione. Indian rules for foreign etailers currently prohibit an entity running an online marketplace and its group companies from owning equity in any of the sellers on the platform or having control over their inventory. To comply with this, Amazon had to reduce its stake from 49% to 24% in Cloudtail.

While Cloudtail will operate as per current strictures until May, if CCI’s clearance comes before that, the companies will move ahead to complete the transaction.

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