The Snapdeal-Flipkart merger has turned into the most complex acquisition negotiation
Indian Companies News : In the universe of Snapdeal and Flipkart everyone is hopeful, but of different things. Japanese telecom giant SoftBank and US hedge fund major Tiger Global are hopeful of merging the two e-commerce players. Snapdeal’s board members, such as Nexus Venture Capital, and smaller shareholders are hopeful of a better-valued exit, and the co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal are hopeful of holding on to their company.
The clash of hopes is what has kept the ‘biggest consolidation in Indian e-commerce history’ from becoming a reality. After five months of discussions, the Snapdeal-Flipkart merger has turned into the most complex acquisition negotiation.
Stonewalling deal
In his last email to FreeCharge employees as the top boss, Bahl, buoyed by the sale of the mobile wallet to Axis Bank, said the deal provides them the necessary boost in resources to continue the journey towards building an e-commerce platform.
Axis Bank last week announced it had bought the mobile payments wallet provider from Snapdeal for Rs 385 crore ($60 million).
According to sources close to Snapdeal, the co-founders are actively working towards a ‘Plan B’ and have taken into confidence most of their senior management. According to sources, the two have been fighting SoftBank, the biggest investor in the company, ‘tooth and nail’ to prevent the deal from happening.
“They are going to fight the deal till they can. The kind of U-turn SoftBank took last year has left them flabbergasted. First SoftBank asked them to rebrand, spend money on marketing, promising all along that more investments are on way and then they suddenly left them high and dry.(more)
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