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New Delhi: Snapdeal’s early investor, Kalaari Capital, has reportedly okayed the sale of the online retailer to rival Flipkart.
Snapdeal’s largest stakeholder, Softbank has been pushing for the reported $1 billion move but had faced resistance from Kalaari and Nexus Partners ventures, a report in Economic Times said.
The move was being stalled by the early investors as they valued the company at its peak value of $6.5 billion.
“After sustained discussions, they (Kalaari Capital) are now on board… There is an understanding that they will work with SoftBank down the line,” ET quoted sources as saying.
Snapdeal had last year lost its second place in India’s fiercely competitive online retail market to Amazon.com.
In February, the firm laid off 600 employees and its founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal stopped drawing salaries.
Snapdeal had for weeks been at the centre of much takeover speculation, with its largest backer Japan’s Softbank, seen as keen to sell the company to its larger rival, Tiger Global-backed Flipkart. The recent layoffs at the company had heightened speculation, spooking some employees into looking for new jobs, Reuters reported.
Its founders had then sent out an email to the staff, saying the e-commerce company will ensure there is no disruption to staff “as the way forward becomes clear.”
Source: News18