British retail giant Tesco look set to become the first global company to venture into India's $500 billion retail sector.
It comes just over a year after the Indian Government allowed foreign companies to invest in multi-brand retailing.
Yesterday Tesco announced that it is has applied to buy a 50% stake in Tata Group's Trent Hypermarket chain.
Reuters report that Tesco are likely to invest $110 million in the Tata Group chain that runs Star Bazaar supermarkets, citing an exchange filing and a statement from commerce minister Anand Sharma.
"We hope that this will mark a new beginning in transforming India's retail industry. I am sure that the other global leaders will also look at investing in India," Minister Sharma said.
Shares of Trent Hypermarket's rose nearly 19% this morning on the back of news that Tesco filed the first multi-brand retail application seeking to invest $110 million to open supermarkets in the country with the Tata Group firm.
If the deal goes through, Tesco will beat Walmart in the race to invest in this powerful emerging market.
Walmart, which recently ended a six-year-old partnership with Bharti Retail, stalling the world's biggest retailer's efforts to expand in the country.
However, Walmart recently named a new CEO for its India unit in a demonstration of its enduring interest to develop a retail strategy for the country.
© 2013 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
