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Ansh Kadam
Founder & CEO at Bui... • 1d
Here’s 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 ₹24,000 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 rights—meaning Biyani couldn’t sell to anyone else before offering the same deal to Amazon. This sparked a long legal war between Amazon and Reliance. But Ambani isn’t someone who waits for court verdicts—he rewrote the game. You see, Big Bazaar didn’t 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. That’s 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 — Reliance Smart Bazaar. Amazon? Blindsided. Biyani? Outplayed. Ambani? Victorious — without spending ₹24,000 Cr. This is not just business, it’s chess at a billion-dollar scale. What can you learn from this? Smart entrepreneurs don't just play by the rules — they understand every layer of the game: ✅ Know your competitor’s legal bindings ✅ Control the supply chain — or the infrastructure ✅ And always have Plan B that’s 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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