Snapdeal has rejected an initial takeover offer of $800-$900 million from rival Flipkart, according to a latest report from the Economic Times. The development comes just a few days after Flipkart completed its commercial and legal due diligence of Snapdeal.
The offer made by Flipkart is only for Snapdeal’s online marketplace and doesn’t include Snapdeal’s payments arm Freecharge and its logistics business Vulcan. These two will be sold separately. The ET report said that talks are going on between the two parties and it is unclear if Flipkart will make a new offer. Snapdeal has been expected to fetch at least $1 billion from its sale to Flipkart.Talks about a possible Snapdeal acquisition by Flipkart has been making rounds since two months.
At the end of May this year, Snapdeal secured more than Rs.113 crores from Nexus Venture Partners and founders. Earlier in February, the struggling online retail firm laid off a total of 600 staff members as it continues strive to be profitable.