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On May 9th 2019, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (Reliance) announced that it had acquired British toy retailer Hamleys via its subsidiary Reliance Brands Ltd (Reliance Brands) for around GBP67.96 million in an all-cash deal. Reliance Brands had signed an agreement to acquire 100% stake in Hamleys from C Banner International Holdings Ltd, a Hong Kong listed company. The acquisition of Hamleys would mark the entry of Reliance into global retailing. Prior to this acquisition, Reliance had a franchise agreement with Hamleys for India, operating 88 stores across 29 cities and had already established a 'very significant and profitable business in toy retailing under the Hamleys brand' in the country. However, there were several challenges in the Indian toy market. The country's toy industry was highly unorganised and it was crowded with several small and medium sized toy manufacturers and their retailers. Also, as of June 2018, after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, toys in India were subject to 12% tax, as against the 5% VAT and zero excise duty on manufacturing. Moreover, unlike in the apparel industry, there was no periodical spike in demand for the toy manufacturers. Hence, a toy retailer was likely to be left with reduced working capital in case of unsold stock. Also, mobile games were increasingly capturing the attention of the kids and they were staying away from physical toys. Moreover, the toy retailers were likely to face tough competition from the ecommerce players like Amazon and Walmart. Against this backdrop, would it be possible for Reliance to dominate the country's toy market post acquisition of Hamleys? What could be the underlying issues and challenges?