Competition Commission has cleared Amazon's proposal to acquire Prione Business Services Private LimitedNew Delhi: Competition Commission of India (CCI) has cleared Amazon's proposal to acquire Prione Business Services Private Limited, the entity which runs Cloudtail.Cloudtail is one of the largest online marketplaces in India."The proposed combination pertains to the proposed acquisition of 76 per cent of the equity shares of Prione Business Services Private Limited (Target) by Amazon Asia-Pacific Resources Private Limited (Acquirer)," CCI said in a statement.Prione Business Services has a wholly-owned subsidiary Cloudtail India Private Limited (CT), which is engaged in business to customer (B2C) retail segment in the country.It offersonline sale of products to customers through www.amazon.in operated by Amazon Seller Services Private Limited (Amazon Marketplace).Cloudtail is also engaged in wholesale business to business (B2B) trading of products through online and offline channels.The acquirer is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazonis 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).
76 per cent of the share capital of the target is held by Hober Mallow," CCI said.Amazon Asia-Pacific Resources Private Limited already owns 23 per cent of the share capital of Prione Business Services.
The remaining one per cent of the equity stake in Prione Business Services is owned by Amazon Eurasia Holdings.