E-commerce firm Snapdeal saw its losses mounting to Rs 4,647 crore for the fiscal ending March 2017, impacted by a provision for "impairment of goodwill" of Rs 1,797 crore.

According to regulatory filing to the corporate affairs ministry by Jasper Infotech, which runs Snapdeal, had registered a net loss of Rs 3,340 crore in 2015-16.

The company's total income also declined by 12.6 per cent to Rs 1,291.3 crore in FY2017 from Rs 1,478.2 crore in the previous year.

When contacted, Snapdeal spokesperson said the financial statement for the year 2016-17 "reflects the first stage of Snapdeal's focus on unit economics and business efficiencies".

"Key highlights in this regard are the reduction in fulfilment cost by more than 20 per cent (as a percentage of operating revenue) and reduction in operational losses by nearly 25 per cent (excluding non-recurring cost on account of impairment of assets)," the spokesperson said.

He added that the company continues to make "rapid progress in driving profitable growth, which will be reflected in the results for the financial year 2017-18".

Snapdeal has seen its business being impacted severely by the intense competition in the e-commerce segment. While players, including the likes of Amazon and Flipkart, have pumped in billions of dollars in investments, they continue to operate in losses. Analysts are of the view that it will be a couple of years before these players can hit profitability.

Last year, Snapdeal dumped the USD 950-million takeover offer from Flipkart with Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal saying the company will pursue a fresh strategy in the Indian market.

Last year, Snapdeal sold its payment services unit, Freecharge to Axis Bank for Rs 385 crore, almost 90 per cent lower than what it had paid for the firm in 2015.

In January this year, its logistics arm -- Vulcan Express -- was acquired by Kishore Biyani's Future Supply Chain Solutions in an all-cash deal valued at Rs 35 crore.

Snapdeal has also significantly reduced its headcount to rein in costs.

According to regulatory filing to the corporate affairs ministry by Jasper Infotech, which runs Snapdeal, had registered a net loss of Rs 3,340 crore in 2015-16

E-commerce firm Snapdeal saw its losses mounting to Rs 4,647 crore for the fiscal ending March 2017, impacted by a provision for "impairment of goodwill" of Rs 1,797 crore. According to regulatory filing to the corporate affairs ministry by Jasper Infotech, which runs Snapdeal, had registered a net loss of Rs 3,340 crore in 2015-16. The company's total income also declined by 12.6 per cent to Rs 1,291.3 crore in FY2017 from Rs 1,478.2 crore in the previous year. When contacted, Snapdeal spokesperson said the financial statement for the year 2016-17 "reflects the first stage of Snapdeal's focus on unit economics and business efficiencies". "Key highlights in this regard are the reduction in fulfilment cost by more than 20 per cent (as a percentage of operating revenue) and reduction in operational losses by nearly 25 per cent (excluding non-recurring cost on account of impairment of assets)," the spokesperson said. He added that the company continues to make "rapid progress in driving profitable growth, which will be reflected in the results for the financial year 2017-18". Snapdeal has seen its business being impacted severely by the intense competition in the e-commerce segment. While players, including the likes of Amazon and Flipkart, have pumped in billions of dollars in investments, they continue to operate in losses. Analysts are of the view that it will be a couple of years before these players can hit profitability. Last year, Snapdeal dumped the USD 950-million takeover offer from Flipkart with Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal saying the company will pursue a fresh strategy in the Indian market. Last year, Snapdeal sold its payment services unit, Freecharge to Axis Bank for Rs 385 crore, almost 90 per cent lower than what it had paid for the firm in 2015. In January this year, its logistics arm -- Vulcan Express -- was acquired by Kishore Biyani's Future Supply Chain Solutions in an all-cash deal valued at Rs 35 crore. Snapdeal has also significantly reduced its headcount to rein in costs.

Snapdeal posts Rs 4,647 crore net loss in 2016-17

Japan&#39;s&nbsp;SoftBank&nbsp;is still keen to take a stake in Indian e-commerce firm&nbsp;Flipkart&nbsp;and is in&nbsp;talks&nbsp;to&nbsp;invest&nbsp;up&nbsp;to $2&nbsp;billion&nbsp;in the company through&nbsp;its&nbsp;VisionFund, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Softbank&nbsp;had hoped to secure a sizeable stake in&nbsp;Flipkart&nbsp;by engineering a share swap between Flipkart&nbsp;and smaller domestic rival Snapdeal, as the Japanese group&nbsp;is Snapdeal&#39;s biggest shareholder. But that plan collapsed on Monday when Snapdeal said it had decided to remain independent and was ending all&nbsp;talks&nbsp;regarding a sale.

Three sources said&nbsp;SoftBank&nbsp;founder Masayoshi Son still wants to&nbsp;invest&nbsp;in&nbsp;Flipkart&nbsp;through his vision&nbsp;Fund, in which Saudi Arabia is also a major stakeholder.

The first source said&nbsp;talks&nbsp;about an&nbsp;investment of&nbsp;up&nbsp;to $2&nbsp;billion&nbsp;were underway and a deal between&nbsp;SoftBank&nbsp;and&nbsp;Flipkart&nbsp;could be sealed within a month.

The&nbsp;Vision&nbsp;Fund&#39;s planned&nbsp;investment is not dependent on a deal between Snapdeal and&nbsp;Flipkart, one of the sources said.

All sources declined to be identified as the discussions are not public.

Flipkart, the most significant challenge to US retail giant Amazon in India, declined to comment on the matter.

SoftBank, which has also&nbsp;invested in Indian online grocer Grofers and cab hailing firm Ola, said its&nbsp;Vision&nbsp;Fund&nbsp;&quot;follows an independent process and judges every&nbsp;investment on&nbsp;its&nbsp;own merit.&quot;

Bloomberg reported earlier on Tuesday that the&nbsp;Fund&nbsp;could&nbsp;invest&nbsp;between $1.5&nbsp;billion&nbsp;and $2billion&nbsp;in&nbsp;Flipkart.

The&nbsp;Vision&nbsp;Fund&nbsp;has raised more than $93&nbsp;billion&nbsp;from&nbsp;investors including Saudi Arabia&#39;s main sovereign wealth&nbsp;fund&nbsp;and Apple.

SoftBank, which has also?invested in Indian online grocer Grofers and cab hailing firm Ola, said its?Vision?Fund?"follows an independent process and judges every?investment on?its?own merit."

Japan's SoftBank is still keen to take a stake in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart and is in talks to invest up to $2 billion in the company through its VisionFund, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Softbank had hoped to secure a sizeable stake in Flipkart by engineering a share swap between Flipkart and smaller domestic rival Snapdeal, as the Japanese group is Snapdeal's biggest shareholder. But that plan collapsed on Monday when Snapdeal said it had decided to remain independent and was ending all talks regarding a sale. Three sources said SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son still wants to invest in Flipkart through his vision Fund, in which Saudi Arabia is also a major stakeholder. The first source said talks about an investment of up to $2 billion were underway and a deal between SoftBank and Flipkart could be sealed within a month. The Vision Fund's planned investment is not dependent on a deal between Snapdeal and Flipkart, one of the sources said. All sources declined to be identified as the discussions are not public. Flipkart, the most significant challenge to US retail giant Amazon in India, declined to comment on the matter. SoftBank, which has also invested in Indian online grocer Grofers and cab hailing firm Ola, said its Vision Fund "follows an independent process and judges every investment on its own merit." Bloomberg reported earlier on Tuesday that the Fund could invest between $1.5 billion and $2billion in Flipkart. The Vision Fund has raised more than $93 billion from investors including Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund and Apple.

SoftBank Vision fund seeks to invest up to $2 billion in Flipkart

Flipkart in its second bid has offered Snapdeal between $900 million and $950 million as a takeover offer.

According to previous reports, Snapdeal had rejected the initial bid of around $800 million -$850 million, offered by Flipkart. Snapdeal was not satisfied with the offer as the company was expecting $1 billion, the previous negotiated valuation.

Both the companies had been working on forging a deal for months which continued even after Snapdeal declined the offer.&nbsp;

According to an anonymous source, Flipkart revised its offer for Snapdeal marketplace and its e-commerce solutions provider Unicommerce. Though it does not include its logistics arm Vulcan Express and digital payments unit FreeCharge which can be sold separately.&nbsp;

As per reports, Flipkart may hold back about $150 million of the deal price for 12 to 24 months after signing of the deal.&nbsp;

Japan&#39;s SoftBank, Snapdeal&#39;s biggest investor, is keen to fold the e-commerce firm into Flipkart. This will help Snapdeal to take a large stake in India&#39;s biggest e-commerce player through an all equity deal.

A merger will help Flipkart, which is already backed by Microsoft, China&#39;s Tencent and online auction site eBay, bulk up and stay ahead of Amazon, which is expanding rapidly in the world&#39;s fastest-growing internet services market.

It is also speculated that Snapdeal may enter into a deal with Infibeam, a listed e-commerce player. Snapdeal, thus, will evaluate and choose between Flipkart and Infibeam before any final decision. It is expected that the company will decide on the two offers in a week or 10 days.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Snapdeal rejected Flipkart's earlier bid of $800 million-$850 million, expecting $1 billion. They will evaluate and choose between Flipkart and Infibeam

Flipkart in its second bid has offered Snapdeal between $900 million and $950 million as a takeover offer. According to previous reports, Snapdeal had rejected the initial bid of around $800 million -$850 million, offered by Flipkart. Snapdeal was not satisfied with the offer as the company was expecting $1 billion, the previous negotiated valuation. Both the companies had been working on forging a deal for months which continued even after Snapdeal declined the offer. According to an anonymous source, Flipkart revised its offer for Snapdeal marketplace and its e-commerce solutions provider Unicommerce. Though it does not include its logistics arm Vulcan Express and digital payments unit FreeCharge which can be sold separately. As per reports, Flipkart may hold back about $150 million of the deal price for 12 to 24 months after signing of the deal. Japan's SoftBank, Snapdeal's biggest investor, is keen to fold the e-commerce firm into Flipkart. This will help Snapdeal to take a large stake in India's biggest e-commerce player through an all equity deal. A merger will help Flipkart, which is already backed by Microsoft, China's Tencent and online auction site eBay, bulk up and stay ahead of Amazon, which is expanding rapidly in the world's fastest-growing internet services market. It is also speculated that Snapdeal may enter into a deal with Infibeam, a listed e-commerce player. Snapdeal, thus, will evaluate and choose between Flipkart and Infibeam before any final decision. It is expected that the company will decide on the two offers in a week or 10 days.

Flipkart offers between $900-950 million to buy Snapdeal

India&#39;s No. 3 e-commerce player Snapdeal has rejected an initial takeover offer from its larger rival Flipkart this week, but the talks between the two camps that have been attempting to forge a deal for months continue, said two sources close to the matter.

Flipkart&#39;s initial bid for Snapdeal came in below the widely anticipated $1 billion valuation, said one of the sources.

The Mint newspaper in India, citing unnamed sources, said that Flipkart&#39;s bid was worth $700-$800 million, while rival publication Economic Times said the bid had come in between $800-$900 million.

Snapdeal, which is operated by Jasper Infotech, opened its books to Flipkart in May for the company to run a due diligence process on it. Japan&#39;s SoftBank, Snapdeal&#39;s biggest investor, is keen to fold the e-commerce firm into Flipkart as it plans to invest in the larger player at the same time and sell Snapdeal in an all equity deal, giving itself a sizeable stake in India&#39;s biggest e-commerce firm.

&quot;The due diligence came up all clean,&quot; said one of the two sources, adding that the low-ball offer put forward was hence inexplicable and therefore rejected.

&quot;I think it&#39;s basically just negotiation,&quot; said the source.

Flipkart&#39;s offer, made before a July 2 deadline during which sale talks were exclusive between the two companies, is not the end of negotiations, the source said.

The second source also said that talks would continue and added a deal is expected to be finalized by mid-July.

Flipkart, Snapdeal and its key investors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Flipkart has not currently bid for Snapdeal&#39;s logistics arm Vulcan Express and its digital payments venture FreeCharge, said the first source, adding that these assets may be sold separately.

SoftBank is expected to invest about $1 billion in Flipkart through a fresh cash infusion and by buying equity stakes from its investors Tiger Global and Naspers, sources have previously told Reuters.

The deal is likely to help Flipkart, which is already backed by Microsoft Corp, China&#39;s Tencent and online auction site eBay, to stay ahead of Amazon in the world&#39;s fastest-growing internet services market.

Japan's SoftBank Group, Snapdeal's biggest investor, is looking to sell the firm to Flipkart to secure a stake in India's largest e-commerce player

India's No. 3 e-commerce player Snapdeal has rejected an initial takeover offer from its larger rival Flipkart this week, but the talks between the two camps that have been attempting to forge a deal for months continue, said two sources close to the matter. Flipkart's initial bid for Snapdeal came in below the widely anticipated $1 billion valuation, said one of the sources. The Mint newspaper in India, citing unnamed sources, said that Flipkart's bid was worth $700-$800 million, while rival publication Economic Times said the bid had come in between $800-$900 million. Snapdeal, which is operated by Jasper Infotech, opened its books to Flipkart in May for the company to run a due diligence process on it. Japan's SoftBank, Snapdeal's biggest investor, is keen to fold the e-commerce firm into Flipkart as it plans to invest in the larger player at the same time and sell Snapdeal in an all equity deal, giving itself a sizeable stake in India's biggest e-commerce firm. "The due diligence came up all clean," said one of the two sources, adding that the low-ball offer put forward was hence inexplicable and therefore rejected. "I think it's basically just negotiation," said the source. Flipkart's offer, made before a July 2 deadline during which sale talks were exclusive between the two companies, is not the end of negotiations, the source said. The second source also said that talks would continue and added a deal is expected to be finalized by mid-July. Flipkart, Snapdeal and its key investors did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Flipkart has not currently bid for Snapdeal's logistics arm Vulcan Express and its digital payments venture FreeCharge, said the first source, adding that these assets may be sold separately. SoftBank is expected to invest about $1 billion in Flipkart through a fresh cash infusion and by buying equity stakes from its investors Tiger Global and Naspers, sources have previously told Reuters. The deal is likely to help Flipkart, which is already backed by Microsoft Corp, China's Tencent and online auction site eBay, to stay ahead of Amazon in the world's fastest-growing internet services market.

Snapdeal rejects Flipkart's initial bid: Sources

Indian online retailer Snapdeal has filed a police complaint against some former directors and former management of a local logistics company, in which it owns a stake, accusing them of defrauding the company of 3.57 billion rupees ($55.37 million), a police report showed.&nbsp;

The company, which is backed by Japan&#39;s Softbank, accused some former directors and former management of Quickdel of misappropriation, cheating and misleading it.

Vineet Rai, the administrative officer at the Gurgaon headquarters of Quickdel, said the company could not immediately comment.

A spokeswoman for Snapdeal was not reachable by phone.

Snapdeal said it had bought a 49.99 per cent stake in Quickdel in 2014 and early 2015 after the former heads of the logistics company said it would help the two to grow the business. Snapdeal said in the police complaint that it realised later that the former heads of the logistics firm had misrepresented facts.

Snapdeal has been at the centre of takeover speculation, with its largest backer Softbank seen as keen to sell the company to its larger rival, Tiger Global-backed Flipkart.

In May, television channel ET Now reported that the founders of Snapdeal and one of its early investors, Nexus, have reached an agreement with SoftBank Group that would allow the Japanese firm to move ahead with its plan to sell Snapdeal to Flipkart.

SoftBank was working to engineer a sale of Snapdeal to Flipkart, as it seeks to play consolidator and take a more active role at a trio of leading startups in India.

Snapdeal has accused some former directors and former management of Quickdel of misappropriation, cheating and misleading it

Indian online retailer Snapdeal has filed a police complaint against some former directors and former management of a local logistics company, in which it owns a stake, accusing them of defrauding the company of 3.57 billion rupees ($55.37 million), a police report showed. The company, which is backed by Japan's Softbank, accused some former directors and former management of Quickdel of misappropriation, cheating and misleading it. Vineet Rai, the administrative officer at the Gurgaon headquarters of Quickdel, said the company could not immediately comment. A spokeswoman for Snapdeal was not reachable by phone. Snapdeal said it had bought a 49.99 per cent stake in Quickdel in 2014 and early 2015 after the former heads of the logistics company said it would help the two to grow the business. Snapdeal said in the police complaint that it realised later that the former heads of the logistics firm had misrepresented facts. Snapdeal has been at the centre of takeover speculation, with its largest backer Softbank seen as keen to sell the company to its larger rival, Tiger Global-backed Flipkart. In May, television channel ET Now reported that the founders of Snapdeal and one of its early investors, Nexus, have reached an agreement with SoftBank Group that would allow the Japanese firm to move ahead with its plan to sell Snapdeal to Flipkart. SoftBank was working to engineer a sale of Snapdeal to Flipkart, as it seeks to play consolidator and take a more active role at a trio of leading startups in India.

Snapdeal files police case against former heads of local logistics firm

Refuting charges of non payment, e-commerce major Snapdeal said it has no outstanding dues towards sellers on its platform.

The statement comes after e-sellers&#39; representative body -&nbsp;All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) -&nbsp;alleged that the city-based online marketplace has not settled dues with many sellers.

Snapdeal said payments to sellers are made 6-10 times a month and typically, sellers receive their payments within 3-5 days of the sale of their goods.

It added that in a few cases, details are awaited from sellers in support of the claims made by them.

&quot;In these cases, sellers have so far failed to provide required justification for their claims despite multiple attempts by Snapdeal to facilitate these settlements,&quot; Snapdeal Senior Vice President (Finance Operations) Sanjay Agarwal said.

He added that these are minor amounts, which will get paid based on information provided by sellers and in accordance with the contracts and seller policies.

In recent weeks, Snapdeal claimed it has further expedited the payment cycles for sellers, making payments faster.

Earlier this week, AIOVA had written to corporate affairs ministry and commerce ministry seeking their intervention on the proposed Snapdeal-Flipkart deal.

According to sources, Snapdeal&#39;s largest investor SoftBank has been proactively mediating with the board members over the past few weeks for a potential sale to Flipkart and has succeeded in getting their consent.

A non-binding term sheet to undertake due diligence on Snapdeal by Flipkart is expected to be signed soon.

(PTI)

Snapdeal says payments to sellers are made 6-10 times a month and typically, sellers receive their payments within 3-5 days of the sale of their goods

Refuting charges of non payment, e-commerce major Snapdeal said it has no outstanding dues towards sellers on its platform. The statement comes after e-sellers' representative body - All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) - alleged that the city-based online marketplace has not settled dues with many sellers. Snapdeal said payments to sellers are made 6-10 times a month and typically, sellers receive their payments within 3-5 days of the sale of their goods. It added that in a few cases, details are awaited from sellers in support of the claims made by them. "In these cases, sellers have so far failed to provide required justification for their claims despite multiple attempts by Snapdeal to facilitate these settlements," Snapdeal Senior Vice President (Finance Operations) Sanjay Agarwal said. He added that these are minor amounts, which will get paid based on information provided by sellers and in accordance with the contracts and seller policies. In recent weeks, Snapdeal claimed it has further expedited the payment cycles for sellers, making payments faster. Earlier this week, AIOVA had written to corporate affairs ministry and commerce ministry seeking their intervention on the proposed Snapdeal-Flipkart deal. According to sources, Snapdeal's largest investor SoftBank has been proactively mediating with the board members over the past few weeks for a potential sale to Flipkart and has succeeded in getting their consent. A non-binding term sheet to undertake due diligence on Snapdeal by Flipkart is expected to be signed soon. (PTI)

No outstanding dues to sellers: Snapdeal

After ploughing about $2 billion into minority stakes in Indian e-commerce businesses over the past few years, Japan&#39;s SoftBank is upping the stakes, looking to play consolidator and take a more active role at a trio of leading startups.

According to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, the solar-to-tech conglomerate is seeking to secure a piece of India&#39;s industry leaders in everything from payment systems to online shopping and groceries, in a series of deals that would shake up the $65 billion sector.

Among the most high-profile plans is SoftBank&#39;s push to engineer a merger between Snapdeal, the No. 3 player in one of the world&#39;s most competitive online markets and one of its biggest Indian investments to date, and market leader Flipkart.

The deal could be finalised as soon as next week, one of the sources said.

SoftBank has poured roughly $1 billion into Snapdeal since 2014, but competition in e-commerce has risen dramatically with US&nbsp;giant Amazon cranking up its presence and taking the No. 2 spot from Snapdeal.

Besides Snapdeal, SoftBank is also close to finalising a cash infusion of more than $1 billion into Alibaba-backed digital payments firm Paytm - another leader in a highly competitive sector - giving it a more direct say in that group too, according to one source familiar with discussions.

Media reports have separately linked SoftBank to a tie-up between grocery delivery group Grofers, in which it has invested roughly $70 million, and market leader and rival BigBasket.

SoftBank, Snapdeal, Paytm and BigBasket did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Grofers said the company did not comment on merger speculation.

Land of opporunity

At the heart of the push is the charismatic Masayoshi Son, SoftBank&#39;s founder and chairman, the sources said. Son has taken a more active role in the group globally since last year, when he pushed aside his heir apparent, Nikesh Arora.

SoftBank is best-known for its hugely lucrative early stage bet in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, in which it is still the single largest investor. But it has also been a long-time supporter of India - and with some success.

&quot;Son is thinking India is the place where he will create one or two Alibabas,&quot; said one of the sources familiar with SoftBank ambitions, adding Son sees the country right now as the &quot;land of golden opportunity&quot;.

SoftBank is the biggest investor in India&#39;s leading ride-share player Ola, which competes with Uber, and its top hotel aggregator Oyo. Son and other partners have also pledged to pour $20 billion into solar projects in the energy-hungry South Asian nation.

&quot;They are getting into sectors where the big differentiator, firstly, is going to be technology, of course,&quot; said the same source.

&quot;Secondly, also sectors that need large amounts of capital, so you can browbeat or elbow out people with your capital.&quot;

A Flipkart-Snapdeal combination would create just such a e-commerce behemoth. Flipkart, though battling Amazon, has maintained its pole position and last month it raised $1.4 billion from a trio of cash-rich and tech savvy players that include eBay, Tencent and Microsoft. It also bought eBay&#39;s Indian operations as part of the deal.

Meanwhile, SoftBank poured cash into Snapdeal, but Son began to lose patience as it was outpaced by Amazon, said a source at Snapdeal and the source familiar with SoftBank&#39;s aspirations. SoftBank has already begun talks with Flipkart&#39;s largest investor, Tiger Global, to buy a stake, the two sources said.

To push through the tie-up, SoftBank was likely to invest about $1 billion in Flipkart, both via a direct cash infusion and by buying equity stakes in investors such as Tiger Global, another source said, adding that Snapdeal investors were expected to get one Flipkart share for every 10 Snapdeal shares.

Flipkart did not respond to requests for comment, while a spokeswoman for Tiger Global said the hedge fund did not speak to the media about its investments.

Further consolidation

Forging all these deals could prove to be a challenge. One source familiar with the Grofers-BigBasket talks said a deal, while being considered, looked unlikely as BigBasket has a cash-burn rate significantly higher than that of Grofers, making it hard to justify a deal.

Moreover, even if the deals do click, there is no guarantee bets like a Flipkart-Snapdeal combine will pay off. &quot;In the short-term, yes,&quot; said Gartner analyst Sandy Shen. &quot;But things move quickly in e-commerce and Amazon is a strong player with global scale, technology and operational expertise.&quot; Still, a Flipkart-Snapdeal combine is likely to revive hopes of a broader consolidation in Indian e-commerce.

Alibaba had explored the possibility of combining Snapdeal and Paytm&#39;s e-commerce business with Flipkart about a year ago, one of the sources said, but talks broke down over price.

Industry watchers believe that Paytm&#39;s marketplace and Tiger Global-backed ShopClues could eventually fold into Flipkart if the tie-up and Paytm investment goes through.

(Reuters)

SoftBank has poured roughly $1 billion into Snapdeal since 2014

After ploughing about $2 billion into minority stakes in Indian e-commerce businesses over the past few years, Japan's SoftBank is upping the stakes, looking to play consolidator and take a more active role at a trio of leading startups. According to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, the solar-to-tech conglomerate is seeking to secure a piece of India's industry leaders in everything from payment systems to online shopping and groceries, in a series of deals that would shake up the $65 billion sector. Among the most high-profile plans is SoftBank's push to engineer a merger between Snapdeal, the No. 3 player in one of the world's most competitive online markets and one of its biggest Indian investments to date, and market leader Flipkart. The deal could be finalised as soon as next week, one of the sources said. SoftBank has poured roughly $1 billion into Snapdeal since 2014, but competition in e-commerce has risen dramatically with US giant Amazon cranking up its presence and taking the No. 2 spot from Snapdeal. Besides Snapdeal, SoftBank is also close to finalising a cash infusion of more than $1 billion into Alibaba-backed digital payments firm Paytm - another leader in a highly competitive sector - giving it a more direct say in that group too, according to one source familiar with discussions. Media reports have separately linked SoftBank to a tie-up between grocery delivery group Grofers, in which it has invested roughly $70 million, and market leader and rival BigBasket. SoftBank, Snapdeal, Paytm and BigBasket did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Grofers said the company did not comment on merger speculation. Land of opporunity At the heart of the push is the charismatic Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's founder and chairman, the sources said. Son has taken a more active role in the group globally since last year, when he pushed aside his heir apparent, Nikesh Arora. SoftBank is best-known for its hugely lucrative early stage bet in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, in which it is still the single largest investor. But it has also been a long-time supporter of India - and with some success. "Son is thinking India is the place where he will create one or two Alibabas," said one of the sources familiar with SoftBank ambitions, adding Son sees the country right now as the "land of golden opportunity". SoftBank is the biggest investor in India's leading ride-share player Ola, which competes with Uber, and its top hotel aggregator Oyo. Son and other partners have also pledged to pour $20 billion into solar projects in the energy-hungry South Asian nation. "They are getting into sectors where the big differentiator, firstly, is going to be technology, of course," said the same source. "Secondly, also sectors that need large amounts of capital, so you can browbeat or elbow out people with your capital." A Flipkart-Snapdeal combination would create just such a e-commerce behemoth. Flipkart, though battling Amazon, has maintained its pole position and last month it raised $1.4 billion from a trio of cash-rich and tech savvy players that include eBay, Tencent and Microsoft. It also bought eBay's Indian operations as part of the deal. Meanwhile, SoftBank poured cash into Snapdeal, but Son began to lose patience as it was outpaced by Amazon, said a source at Snapdeal and the source familiar with SoftBank's aspirations. SoftBank has already begun talks with Flipkart's largest investor, Tiger Global, to buy a stake, the two sources said. To push through the tie-up, SoftBank was likely to invest about $1 billion in Flipkart, both via a direct cash infusion and by buying equity stakes in investors such as Tiger Global, another source said, adding that Snapdeal investors were expected to get one Flipkart share for every 10 Snapdeal shares. Flipkart did not respond to requests for comment, while a spokeswoman for Tiger Global said the hedge fund did not speak to the media about its investments. Further consolidation Forging all these deals could prove to be a challenge. One source familiar with the Grofers-BigBasket talks said a deal, while being considered, looked unlikely as BigBasket has a cash-burn rate significantly higher than that of Grofers, making it hard to justify a deal. Moreover, even if the deals do click, there is no guarantee bets like a Flipkart-Snapdeal combine will pay off. "In the short-term, yes," said Gartner analyst Sandy Shen. "But things move quickly in e-commerce and Amazon is a strong player with global scale, technology and operational expertise." Still, a Flipkart-Snapdeal combine is likely to revive hopes of a broader consolidation in Indian e-commerce. Alibaba had explored the possibility of combining Snapdeal and Paytm's e-commerce business with Flipkart about a year ago, one of the sources said, but talks broke down over price. Industry watchers believe that Paytm's marketplace and Tiger Global-backed ShopClues could eventually fold into Flipkart if the tie-up and Paytm investment goes through. (Reuters)

How Japan's SoftBank is powering India's e-commerce

Indian online retailer Snapdeal is seeking investment to shore up its finances after unsuccessful talks with Chinese funds and Alibaba Group Holding as it battles to remain competitive, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Faced with the prospect of falling cash reserves and little interest from existing investors such as Japan&#39;s Softbank and US hedge funds, Snapdeal is now increasingly being seen as an acquisition target, they said.

&quot;Snapdeal has been desperately looking to raise money in China for the last few months,&quot; said a source with direct knowledge of Snapdeal&#39;s plans.

&quot;It had multiple rounds of talks with some Chinese funds and was also hoping to get some fresh money from Alibaba. But those talks were not going anywhere and Alibaba made it clear to them they would not write a new cheque for them given the dim outlook for making money any time soon.&quot;

Both Alibaba, which already has a small stake in Snapdeal, and Softbank declined to comment. Its unsuccessful negotiations in China and sliding valuations may force loss-making Snapdeal to consider an outright sale, sources said.

Founded in 2010, Snapdeal was valued at $6.5 billion after a fund-raising last year. But valuations of Indian e-commerce firms are believed to have softened since then.

&quot;The industry is up for consolidation and Snapdeal maybe the first one to witness it,&quot; said another source who is aware of the discussions.

&quot;Till what time will Snapdeal continue to survive from savings? ... Snapdeal is not pushing for any consolidation but it&#39;s for the investors to take that call. They have an independent way of looking at this.&quot;

Bruised by intensifying competition with bigger rivals Flipkart and Amazon, Snapdeal laid off 600 employees and its founders are foregoing salaries as it cuts costs to try to turn a profit.

Snapdeal, however, stressed that it has no intention of selling the company.

A Snapdeal executive said the board about two weeks ago had approved a plan to turn profitable and identified a &quot;small gap in funding.&quot; Any fundraising would be intended to strengthen its finances ahead of a planned listing, which sources say the company was trying to achieve within two years.

A Snapdeal spokeswoman said the company&#39;s efforts were &quot;focused on driving profitability,&quot; and that it was &quot;well capitalised.&quot;

Alibaba issue

One of the sources who spoke to Reuters said Alibaba was already in early talks with Softbank, the biggest shareholder in Snapdeal, but was only interested in increasing its investment as long as management control goes to Paytm.

Alibaba is the biggest shareholder in Paytm&#39;s parent One97. It picked up a 36.31 per cent stake in Paytm&#39;s e-commerce unit for $177 million earlier this year.

&quot;Alibaba is very keen to invest more in Snapdeal as an entity if the management control goes to Paytm. The proposal has the backing of Softbank as well, which is also looking to consolidate its investments in one or two large e-commerce companies,&quot; the first person said.

A deal with Alibaba would make Snapdeal more competitive at a time when India&#39;s top e-commerce company Flipkart is seeking to raise up to $1 billion and as Amazon last year pledged to invest more than $5 billion.

Thanks to rapid uptake of wireless high-speed internet, India&#39;s burgeoning middle class is increasingly shopping online, but steep competition among e-tailers has lead to losses across the sector.

Snapdeal has been seen as particularly vulnerable to increasing competition. The company reported a loss of 29.6 billion rupees in the financial year to March 31, 2016, according to regulatory filings.

(Reuters)

Snapdeal's unsuccessful negotiations in China and sliding valuations may force the loss-making company to consider an outright sale

Indian online retailer Snapdeal is seeking investment to shore up its finances after unsuccessful talks with Chinese funds and Alibaba Group Holding as it battles to remain competitive, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Faced with the prospect of falling cash reserves and little interest from existing investors such as Japan's Softbank and US hedge funds, Snapdeal is now increasingly being seen as an acquisition target, they said. "Snapdeal has been desperately looking to raise money in China for the last few months," said a source with direct knowledge of Snapdeal's plans. "It had multiple rounds of talks with some Chinese funds and was also hoping to get some fresh money from Alibaba. But those talks were not going anywhere and Alibaba made it clear to them they would not write a new cheque for them given the dim outlook for making money any time soon." Both Alibaba, which already has a small stake in Snapdeal, and Softbank declined to comment. Its unsuccessful negotiations in China and sliding valuations may force loss-making Snapdeal to consider an outright sale, sources said. Founded in 2010, Snapdeal was valued at $6.5 billion after a fund-raising last year. But valuations of Indian e-commerce firms are believed to have softened since then. "The industry is up for consolidation and Snapdeal maybe the first one to witness it," said another source who is aware of the discussions. "Till what time will Snapdeal continue to survive from savings? ... Snapdeal is not pushing for any consolidation but it's for the investors to take that call. They have an independent way of looking at this." Bruised by intensifying competition with bigger rivals Flipkart and Amazon, Snapdeal laid off 600 employees and its founders are foregoing salaries as it cuts costs to try to turn a profit. Snapdeal, however, stressed that it has no intention of selling the company. A Snapdeal executive said the board about two weeks ago had approved a plan to turn profitable and identified a "small gap in funding." Any fundraising would be intended to strengthen its finances ahead of a planned listing, which sources say the company was trying to achieve within two years. A Snapdeal spokeswoman said the company's efforts were "focused on driving profitability," and that it was "well capitalised." Alibaba issue One of the sources who spoke to Reuters said Alibaba was already in early talks with Softbank, the biggest shareholder in Snapdeal, but was only interested in increasing its investment as long as management control goes to Paytm. Alibaba is the biggest shareholder in Paytm's parent One97. It picked up a 36.31 per cent stake in Paytm's e-commerce unit for $177 million earlier this year. "Alibaba is very keen to invest more in Snapdeal as an entity if the management control goes to Paytm. The proposal has the backing of Softbank as well, which is also looking to consolidate its investments in one or two large e-commerce companies," the first person said. A deal with Alibaba would make Snapdeal more competitive at a time when India's top e-commerce company Flipkart is seeking to raise up to $1 billion and as Amazon last year pledged to invest more than $5 billion. Thanks to rapid uptake of wireless high-speed internet, India's burgeoning middle class is increasingly shopping online, but steep competition among e-tailers has lead to losses across the sector. Snapdeal has been seen as particularly vulnerable to increasing competition. The company reported a loss of 29.6 billion rupees in the financial year to March 31, 2016, according to regulatory filings. (Reuters)

Is Snapdeal on the verge of being taken over?

Govind Rajan, the CEO of Snapdeal-owned FreeCharge, has put in his papers after less than 2 years of joining the digital payments firm. When contacted, Snapdeal confirmed the development.

&quot;Govind has brought incredible energy and focus in growing FreeCharge. The pace of progress will continue with the strong team that he has built. I am sure he will bring the same level of passion and resolve whatever he chooses next,&quot; Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl said.

Rajan had joined FreeCharge in August 2015 and was the Chief Operating Officer at the company. The former Bharti Airtel Executive was elevated to the post of CEO in May last year. Snapdeal had acquired FreeCharge in April 2015.

The development comes at a time when the SoftBank-backed company is exploring ways to optimise its costs. According to sources, it is also laying off 600 people. Jason Kothari will oversee the business operations of FreeCharge, as part of his overall responsibilities of portfolio management.

The former Housing.Com CEO had joined Snapdeal last month as its chief strategy and investment officer. Details of Rajan&#39;s next assignment could not be ascertained.

&quot;I am confident that FreeCharge will achieve still greater heights under its incredibly talented team and I look forward to facilitating the transition over the next few weeks,&quot; Rajan said.

Rajan&#39;s departure is the latest top-level exit from Snapdeal. In May last year, its product head Anand Chandrasekaran had quit the firm and later joined Facebook as head of platform and product partnerships.

(PTI)

Rajan had joined FreeCharge in August 2015

Govind Rajan, the CEO of Snapdeal-owned FreeCharge, has put in his papers after less than 2 years of joining the digital payments firm. When contacted, Snapdeal confirmed the development. "Govind has brought incredible energy and focus in growing FreeCharge. The pace of progress will continue with the strong team that he has built. I am sure he will bring the same level of passion and resolve whatever he chooses next," Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl said. Rajan had joined FreeCharge in August 2015 and was the Chief Operating Officer at the company. The former Bharti Airtel Executive was elevated to the post of CEO in May last year. Snapdeal had acquired FreeCharge in April 2015. The development comes at a time when the SoftBank-backed company is exploring ways to optimise its costs. According to sources, it is also laying off 600 people. Jason Kothari will oversee the business operations of FreeCharge, as part of his overall responsibilities of portfolio management. The former Housing.Com CEO had joined Snapdeal last month as its chief strategy and investment officer. Details of Rajan's next assignment could not be ascertained. "I am confident that FreeCharge will achieve still greater heights under its incredibly talented team and I look forward to facilitating the transition over the next few weeks," Rajan said. Rajan's departure is the latest top-level exit from Snapdeal. In May last year, its product head Anand Chandrasekaran had quit the firm and later joined Facebook as head of platform and product partnerships. (PTI)

FreeCharge CEO Govind Rajan quits in less than two years

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