Snapdeal board rejects $850 million acquisition offer from Flipkart

New Delhi: Snapdeal’s board is believed to have rejected a takeover offer of US $800-850 million (around Rs 5,500 crore) from larger e-commerce rival Flipkart.

According to sources privy to the development, Flipkart has completed the due diligence process and has made an offer of US $800-850 million to buy Snapdeal.

However, the offer was rejected by the board which felt the amount undervalues the company as the due diligence report is clean.

“The first offer has been rejected but talks are still on. It is an ongoing discussion,” said one of the sources.

SoftBank, the largest investor, has been proactively mediating the sale for the past few months. The board also has representation from its founders (Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal), NVP and Kalaari Capital.

Sources said Ernst & Young, which was roped in by Flipkart to conduct a due diligence on Snapdeal, submitted its report a few days ago, following which the offer was made.

The deal between Snapdeal and Flipkart, if completed, would mark the biggest acquisition in the Indian e-commerce space.

One of the leading contenders in the Indian e-commerce space, Snapdeal has seen its fortunes failing amid strong competition from Amazon and Flipkart.

Compared to a valuation of about US $6.5 billion in February 2016, the sale to Flipkart could see Snapdeal being valued at about US $1 billion.

SoftBank has already written off over US $1 billion on valuation of its investment.