Future Group is in early discussions with Aditya Birla Retail Ltd (ABRL) to buy or merge the latter’s More supermarket business to consolidate its leadership in the brick-and-mortar retail sector. Besides Carlyle, rival Bain Capital and drug maker Baxter International Inc. are also in discussions with Claris to acquire the business. While the discussions are still exploratory, the Future Group is preparing to conduct a due diligence exercise for a possible merger or acquisition. If a deal materializes, it will be Future Group’s fourth acquisition of food and grocery chain in less than five years. The group acquired Big Apple, Nilgiri’s and Bharti Retail to create an entity that operates 738 retail stores spread over around 13 million sq.

Source: Mint August 23, 2016 06:33 UTC