CCI Greenlights Sale Of Amazon India’s Largest Seller Appario To Clicktech

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the sale of Amazon India’s largest seller Appario Retail to Clicktech, another seller on the platform.

CCI approved the “proposed combination involving, inter alia, Amazon Asia-Pacific Holdings, Frontizo Business Services, Appario Retail, Haverl LLC and Clicktech Retail,” the antitrust body’s X post was quoted as saying in ET.

The statutory body also approved Frontizo’s 76% equity shares sale by Zodiac Wealth Advisors to Amazon Asia-Pacific Holdings.

It is pertinent to note that Appario is a joint venture of Amazon and Patni group owned Zodiac Wealth Management. As reported by PTI, Zodiac held 76% stake in Appario Retail while Amazon Asia Pacific Holdings makes up for a 23% stake in it. The remaining 1% share is with Zaffre. 

Additionally, CCI gave its approval to Haverl LLC to buy 1% shares of Clicktech Retail’s parent entity New Trends Commerce.

Appario Retail is the biggest seller on Amazon India and operates under the aegis of Frontizo Business Services, the ecommerce giant’s joint venture (JV) with Patni Group-owned Zodiac Wealth Management.

In 2022, the ecommerce giant shut one of its largest sellers in India Cloudtail which the industry experts linked to the CCI probe.

Following the first big shutdown, Amazon revealed its plans to terminate operations of its yet another seller, Appario Retail, within the next 12 months.

Clicktech initially proposed to acquire its peer Appario as part of Amazon India’s plan to divest stakes in sellers on its platform, in April.

As a seller on the ecommerce platform, Appario primarily earns revenue from the sale of traded goods, including damaged goods.

Appario Retail reported a decline of 8.2% in its sales revenue to INR 14,604.2 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from INR 15,915.6 Cr, a year ago. Despite this, its net profit rose marginally to INR 84.4 Cr in FY23 from INR 82.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year.