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Snapdeal, India’s second-largest homegrown online retailer, has initiated preliminary talks with staunch rivals Flipkart and Amazon to explore a possible merger that could realign the country’s e-commerce industry.
Two people directly aware of the development said that Snapdeal is open to a merger with either Flipkart or Amazon, India’s and the world’s largest e-commerce companies, respectively, and that the move is at an exploratory stage.
A third person said Snapdeal co-founder Kunal Bahl had met with top executives of Tiger Global Management, the US-based hedge fund giant and the largest investor in Flipkart, presumably to discuss the issue.
“Only feelers have been sent (to the prospective buyers)… the discussions have not reached the asking price stage,” said one of the two people cited above. “The Flipkart board has not formally discussed the proposal,” said the other. All three declined to be named given the sensitivity of the issue.
Both Flipkart and Snapdeal, run by Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd, have denied holding any talks.
“This is completely false and baseless,” a Flipkart spokesperson said in response to email queries from VCCircle.
A Snapdeal spokesman said the company has had no such discussions with anybody at any point in time. “Your so-called ‘news’ is baseless and we categorically deny this speculative, unfounded story,” the spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for Tiger Global said the firm had no comment to offer. Amazon didn’t respond to an email seeking comment till the time of filing this article.
Snapdeal explores merger talks with Flipkart, Amazon | Techcircle.in - India startups, internet, mobile, e-commerce, software, online businesses, t...
Two people directly aware of the development said that Snapdeal is open to a merger with either Flipkart or Amazon, India’s and the world’s largest e-commerce companies, respectively, and that the move is at an exploratory stage.
A third person said Snapdeal co-founder Kunal Bahl had met with top executives of Tiger Global Management, the US-based hedge fund giant and the largest investor in Flipkart, presumably to discuss the issue.
“Only feelers have been sent (to the prospective buyers)… the discussions have not reached the asking price stage,” said one of the two people cited above. “The Flipkart board has not formally discussed the proposal,” said the other. All three declined to be named given the sensitivity of the issue.
Both Flipkart and Snapdeal, run by Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd, have denied holding any talks.
“This is completely false and baseless,” a Flipkart spokesperson said in response to email queries from VCCircle.
A Snapdeal spokesman said the company has had no such discussions with anybody at any point in time. “Your so-called ‘news’ is baseless and we categorically deny this speculative, unfounded story,” the spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for Tiger Global said the firm had no comment to offer. Amazon didn’t respond to an email seeking comment till the time of filing this article.
Snapdeal explores merger talks with Flipkart, Amazon | Techcircle.in - India startups, internet, mobile, e-commerce, software, online businesses, t...