<p>Reliance Retail Venture Limited (RRVL) on Friday acquired a controlling stake of 40.95 per cent in Just Dial, a 25-year-old information search and listing company, for Rs 3,497 crore. </p>.<p>Just Dial founder VSS Mani started out in 1996 with Rs 50,000 and a vision to revolutionise the information search ecosystem in the country.</p>.<p>Then 29-year-old and his team developed software that could search relevant information from the database. There are obvious parallels between Just Dial, or JD as it is called, and the now-giant Google. Mani has maintained that JD was born before Google, according to <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/companies/rrvl-to-pick-majority-stake-in-just-dial-heres-how-vss-mani-built-the-indian-google-7184901.html" target="_blank"><em>Moneycontrol</em></a>.</p>.<p>The acquisition by Mukesh Ambani-backed giant marks its move to concrete a position in the growing online commerce market in India. </p>.<p>Reliance's retail arms will also make a public announcement for an open offer for acquiring up to 2.17 crore equity shares of Just Dial (representing 26 per cent share in the company)</p>.<p>Mani will continue as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer to lead the company through the next phase of growth.</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/reliance-retail-to-acquire-majority-stake-in-just-dial-for-rs-3497-crore-1009391.html" target="_blank">Reliance Retail to acquire majority stake in Just Dial for Rs 3,497 crore</a></strong></p>.<p>Over decades, Just Dial has emerged as a prominent real estate for advertising for small and medium businesses. </p>.<p><strong>The origin story</strong></p>.<p>Mani was working with a yellow pages company United Database India when he thought the database the firm had would be useful and more accessible by phone. </p>.<p>In 1989, along with his friends, Mani launched Ask Me but that however did not take off since many Indians did not own a telephone. Later, he learnt that people also ended up forgetting the number. Mani then reworked the idea along Ask Me. “We focused a lot more on the phone number than the brand name and got the number 7 times 8,” he told the publication.</p>.<p>Acquiring listings initially involved going door-to-door and after several free ones, one business agreed for a paid listing on Just Dial. Since then, JD has moved on to the internet and mobile services. They even started sending SMS and emails when customers could not note down the numbers.</p>.<p>JD is now a giant in the internet search space with the company's database boasting 30.4 million listings and its consumer traffic reported to be around 129.1 mn quarterly unique users, as of March 31, 2021.</p>
<p>Reliance Retail Venture Limited (RRVL) on Friday acquired a controlling stake of 40.95 per cent in Just Dial, a 25-year-old information search and listing company, for Rs 3,497 crore. </p>.<p>Just Dial founder VSS Mani started out in 1996 with Rs 50,000 and a vision to revolutionise the information search ecosystem in the country.</p>.<p>Then 29-year-old and his team developed software that could search relevant information from the database. There are obvious parallels between Just Dial, or JD as it is called, and the now-giant Google. Mani has maintained that JD was born before Google, according to <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/companies/rrvl-to-pick-majority-stake-in-just-dial-heres-how-vss-mani-built-the-indian-google-7184901.html" target="_blank"><em>Moneycontrol</em></a>.</p>.<p>The acquisition by Mukesh Ambani-backed giant marks its move to concrete a position in the growing online commerce market in India. </p>.<p>Reliance's retail arms will also make a public announcement for an open offer for acquiring up to 2.17 crore equity shares of Just Dial (representing 26 per cent share in the company)</p>.<p>Mani will continue as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer to lead the company through the next phase of growth.</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/reliance-retail-to-acquire-majority-stake-in-just-dial-for-rs-3497-crore-1009391.html" target="_blank">Reliance Retail to acquire majority stake in Just Dial for Rs 3,497 crore</a></strong></p>.<p>Over decades, Just Dial has emerged as a prominent real estate for advertising for small and medium businesses. </p>.<p><strong>The origin story</strong></p>.<p>Mani was working with a yellow pages company United Database India when he thought the database the firm had would be useful and more accessible by phone. </p>.<p>In 1989, along with his friends, Mani launched Ask Me but that however did not take off since many Indians did not own a telephone. Later, he learnt that people also ended up forgetting the number. Mani then reworked the idea along Ask Me. “We focused a lot more on the phone number than the brand name and got the number 7 times 8,” he told the publication.</p>.<p>Acquiring listings initially involved going door-to-door and after several free ones, one business agreed for a paid listing on Just Dial. Since then, JD has moved on to the internet and mobile services. They even started sending SMS and emails when customers could not note down the numbers.</p>.<p>JD is now a giant in the internet search space with the company's database boasting 30.4 million listings and its consumer traffic reported to be around 129.1 mn quarterly unique users, as of March 31, 2021.</p>
