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Ansh Kadam
Founder & CEO at Bui...ย โขย 26d
Hereโs how Mukesh Ambani killed Big Bazaar and acquired almost for free. In 2020, Big Bazaar was on the verge of bankruptcy. Kishore Biyani, its founder, was looking for a lifeline, and Mukesh Ambani came forward with a bold โน24,000 Cr buyout offer to rescue the retail giant. But Amazon had other plans. Amazon had signed a deal with Big Bazaar back in 2019, which gave them first refusal rightsโmeaning Biyani couldnโt sell to anyone else before offering the same deal to Amazon. This sparked a long legal war between Amazon and Reliance. But Ambani isnโt someone who waits for court verdictsโhe rewrote the game. You see, Big Bazaar didnโt own any of its stores. It leased all of its retail locations. And by 2020, it was drowning in debt and couldn't pay rent anymore. Thatโs when Reliance quietly stepped in and began leasing those very properties directly from landlords, then sub-leasing them back to Big Bazaar. Now comes the masterstroke. When the Amazon deal continued to drag in court, Ambani decided to act. In March 2022, Reliance declared that Big Bazaar had defaulted on rent, terminated their sub-leases overnight, and took over hundreds of retail stores across India. Same staff. Same shelves. Same setup. Just a new name โ Reliance Smart Bazaar. Amazon? Blindsided. Biyani? Outplayed. Ambani? Victorious โ without spending โน24,000 Cr. This is not just business, itโs chess at a billion-dollar scale. What can you learn from this? Smart entrepreneurs don't just play by the rules โ they understand every layer of the game: โ Know your competitorโs legal bindings โ Control the supply chain โ or the infrastructure โ And always have Plan B thatโs smarter than Plan A If you want more stories and strategies that help you think like a business tactician, subscribe to my newsletter via the link in the comment.
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