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Flipkart To ‘Order’ Snapdeal

SoftBank, the largest shareholder in Snapdeal, held boardroom discussions on the proposed sale of the online marketplace to rival Flipkart on Tuesday according to two people aware of people aware of the development

According to the terms proposed by the Japanese media and telecom conglomerate, Snapdeal shareholders will get one share of the country’s largest e-commerce company for every ten they own according to the people cited above.

Early investors in Snapdeal – Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners – have also asked for about $100 million each from the sale, the sources said. The proposed sale could see SoftBank pick up a 20% stake in India’s largest commerce company for about $1.5 billion, in the process buying out $500 million to $1 billion worth of Tiger Global’s holding in Flipkart, according to two people aware of the matter.

Alibaba-backed Paytm E-commerce has also discussed a potential acquisition of Snapdeal, but the valuation offered by it was much lower than Flipkart, added another source.

The deal, if completed, will mark the biggest acquisition in Indian e-commerce and also redefine the contours of online retail market where America’s Amazon and China’s Alibaba are also prime contenders.

Softbank, which holds a dominant 33% stake in the New Delhi ­ based Snapdeal mooted the plan at a meeting in the city attended by all the major stakeholders in the company. Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners own about 8% and 10% respectively in the company founded by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.

The two co-founders together own about 6.5% of the company, which at its peak, was valued at about $6.5 billion. Kalaari, which has invested about $27.5 million in Jasper, earned

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