New Delhi : Japanese investor SoftBank is believed to be re-working its plan for sale of e-commerce platform Snapdeal and a final decision is likely to be made in the next few weeks.
According to sources, a consensus could not be reached for the sale proposal at yesterday’s board meeting of Snapdeal, where Softbank has a significant stake and board representation, but the Japanese major is continuing to work on getting support of other directors.
An announcement on the same is likely to be made in the next 4-8 weeks, they added. Speculations are rife that the country’s third-largest online shopping platform Snapdeal could be sold to larger rival and market leader Flipkart, reports PTI. Interestingly, Paytm’s name has also come up as a potential buyer. Alibaba, which is a prominent shareholder in Paytm, is also a shareholder in Snapdeal. Snapdeal and SoftBank declined to comment on the matter.
The deal, if completed, would mark the biggest acquisition in the Indian e-commerce space and change the landscape of the sector that is witnessing intense competition among players. Snapdeal’s seven-member board includes representation from investors SoftBank, Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners, as well as co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal. The board of Jasper Infotech — that operates Snapdeal — met on Tuesday to brainstorm on the broad contours of a possible deal. Sources said one of the hurdles is valuation, as Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners have not agreed with the valuation given by Snapdeal’s largest shareholder SoftBank.
