MERGER DEAL
SoftBank vies with Amazon for Indian e-commerce
Bangalore — SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos are heading for a clash in India. SoftBank is closing in on a deal to combine its e-commerce company Snapdeal with market leader Flipkart Online Services, creating a stronger domestic player to compete with the US behemoth, according to people familiar with the matter. To get the merger done, Son is willing to cut Snapdeal’s valuation 85% to $1bn, said the people, asking not to be named because the talks are private. Snapdeal’s founders and early investors had resisted such a steep cut, but SoftBank had argued the deal was necessary as venture funding dries up and competition intensifies, the people said. Talks were now in the final stages and a deal could be signed within weeks, they said, though it was also possible they could fall apart. Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl raised the possibility of an acquisition in an e-mail to employees at the weekend, explaining he and co-founder Rohit Bansal were seeking to...
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