It was April 2015 and Xiaomi was not yet a household name in India as it is these days. However, Ratan Tata seems to have seen something in the company, prompting him to buy a tiny stake in the company, which is now shaping up for one of the world’s biggest IPOs.
A BloombergQuint report says, Tata is, as per Xiaomi’s IPO documents, the only Indian investor in the company, which has built a name for itself on the back of affordable quality smartphones. The former Tata Group chairman routed his investments through RNT Associates International, according to BloombergQuint.
The report goes on to say that Tata bought a 0.0024 percent stake with 49,583 shares with an investment of about $1 million in 2015. Xiaomi plans to raise up to $10 billion in an IPO that could value it close to $100 billion. Tata’s investment in the company is now worth close to $2.1 million —a twofold jump in four years.
While it’s no secret that Xiaomi’s biggest market is India, it’s biggest challenge remains the US market, where it has still not made a sure-footed entry. But in India too, the company is facing fresh challenges from companies that are beating it at its own game. The likes of Honor, Asus, Oppo and Vivo have made life difficult for Xiaomi and in some ways the warm reception for Xiaomi has resulted in positive impact for its rivals too.
“Now with players like Huawei and Oppo targeting the Indian market more aggressively and Samsung too refreshing its portfolios, all this could slow down its growth in the country,” Karn Chauhan, research analyst at Counterpoint Research was quoted as saying.
