Tata Digital vying for 'strategic alliance' with Just Dial: Report

Tata Digital and Just Dial have held exploratory talks with the objective of a "strategic alliance" or to pick up a stake in the online search engine to boost Tata's e-commerce presence.

Multiple rounds of talks have taken place but a final outcome isn't imminent, The Economic Times reported citing multiple sources aware of the matter.

“Both sides have met for discussions, but it is too early to say anything has been finalised. A lot also depends on how things evolve between the two parties,” said a senior Tata official who was aware of the meeting.

Tata Sons and Just Dial did not comment on the query sent by The Economic Times.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

The salt-to-steel conglomerate mergers and acquisition team has been looking at possible partnerships in the bid to scaleup Tata Digital, the report added. Tata's "Super App" will bring all of the conglomerate services and products into the consumer business under a single umbrella.

The launch of Tata Digital's SuperApp has been postponed again due to pending regulatory approval of the acquisition of e-grocer BigBasket.

The Tata-BigBasket deal is awaiting the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The Tata group has also applied to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for a green signal on the transaction, the report said.

Tata group will buy a 68 percent stake in BigBasket for Rs 9,100-Rs 9,200 crores, CNBC-TV18 reported on February 16.

Started in 1996 as a phone-based service, Just Dial's online market grew rapidly in the dot com era taking the company public in 2013. However, the company is now facing stiff competition from tech giants Google and Facebook.