The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves acquisition of Prione Business Services Private Limited by Amazon Asia-Pacific Resources Private Limited

The proposed combination pertains to the proposed acquisition of Seventy-Six percent of the equity shares of Prione Business Services Private Limited (Target) by Amazon Asia-Pacific Resources Private Limited (Acquirer).

Acquirer is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (ACI). ACI is the ultimate parent entity of the Amazon group. The Acquirer does not undertake any business activity in India. However, ACI, the ultimate parent company of the Acquirer, has certain indirect subsidiaries either registered in India or having business operations in India.

Target is an Indian owned and controlled company, and is controlled by Hober Mallow Trust (Hober Mallow). Seventy Six percent of the share capital of the Target is held by Hober Mallow. Acquirer already owns Twenty three percent of the share capital of the Target, and Amazon Eurasia Holdings S.a.r.l. owns One percent of the share capital of the Target. The Target offers a variety of services tailored to help small and medium businesses (“SMBs”) run their online businesses efficiently, inter alia, including digital cataloguing, advertising, training and consulting, advisory and value-added services, adopting digital payments, and other overall enablement services.

Target has a wholly owned subsidiary Cloudtail India Private Limited (CT). CT is engaged in B2C retail business in India, and currently offers for sale products to customers on the online marketplace, www.amazon.in operated by Amazon Seller Services Private Limited (Amazon Marketplace). CT is also engaged in wholesale (B2B) trading of products through online and offline channels.

Detailed order of the CCI will follow.

Merger clearance for acquisition of a controlling interest in Prione by Amazon Asia Pacific unit expands digital enablement and retail integration. The Competition Commission cleared the acquisition by Amazon Asia Pacific Resources Private Limited of a controlling equity interest in Prione Business Services Private Limited. The Acquirer is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Amazon group and does not itself operate in India, while the Target is Indian owned and controlled and provides digital enablement services to small and medium businesses; its wholly owned subsidiary, Cloudtail India Private Limited, operates B2C retail on the Amazon marketplace and undertakes wholesale trading.