Founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal will relinquish control of online marketplace Snapdeal to market leader Flipkart as early investors in the Delhi-based company give their consent to the sale, according to several people aware of the deal.
The transaction, if successful, will redefine India’s online retail industry, and sharpen the battle lines between the home-grown contender and global rivals — America’s Amazon and China’s Alibaba.
“Both founders will not be part of the merged entity in any capacity, post the acquisition of the company by Flipkart,” the sources cited above told the Economic Times, thereby acceding to a major demand made by India’s largest ecommerce company, as a condition for the acquisition to be finalised.
Japan’s telecom and media giant SoftBank — the largest investor in Snapdeal — has led the discussions for the proposed sale and is also in discussions to make a separate investment in Flipkart, as it emerges as the biggest investor in Indian ecommerce.
Full Content: Economic Times
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