Amazon has invested an additional Rs 4,472 crore ($635 million) in three of its Indian subsidiaries. The objective behind this move from the global e-commerce giant is to help these subsidiaries expand their operations. These Amazon India subsidiaries are in the food, payments, and marketplace space.
As per the regulatory filings made to the Corporate Affairs Ministry, two entities – ‘Amazon Corporate Holdings’ and ‘Amazon.com.incs Ltd’ are pumping in Rs 3,400 crore in Amazon Seller Services. They are also pumping in Rs 900 crore in Amazon Pay (India), and Rs 172.5 crore in Amazon Retail India.
“Amazon Corporate Holdings Ltd board on October 14 has allotted 340 crore shares of Rs 10 face value, aggregating to Rs 3,400 crore to Amazon Seller Services Ltd on rights basis through a resolution,” said the Chennai-based business intelligence platform, paper.vc, in an e-mail to IANS.
The company’s board also allotted 90 crore shares of Rs 10 face value, aggregating Rs 900 crore to Amazon Pay India Ltd on rights basis. “The holding firm also on October 17 allotted 17.25 crore shares of Rs 10 face value, aggregating Rs 172.5 crore to Amazon Retail India Ltd, which is based in New Delhi,” the platform said.
The funds come at a time when Amazon registered cumulative losses of over Rs 7,000 crore across various units in 2018-19. However, the fresh funding is indicative of Amazon’s confidence in the Indian market. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had committed investment worth $5 billion in the Indian market in 2016. The infusion of funds will also help Amazon India take on arch-rivals Flipkart.