India’s largest online marketplace Flipkart has made an informal offer to buy struggling smaller rival Snapdeal for $1 billion in an all-stock deal, amid persistent differences between Snapdeal’s largest investor SoftBank Group and two other key shareholders.
Even though SoftBank, Nexus Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital are yet to resolve their conflict, the latest round of talks has pushed them closer to a deal, three people aware of the discussions said, requesting anonymity as the talks are confidential.
Flipkart’s offer is a non-binding one and a formal term sheet will be signed over the next few days, with the due diligence process expected to commence by next week, the people cited above said.
While the board of Delhi-based Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd, which runs Snapdeal, has not reached any consensus on the exit payouts to Nexus and Kalaari, they have mutually given the go-ahead for the deal to be signed and taken through due diligence.
Flipkart and Snapdeal did not immediately respond over this issue.
