eBay raises Snapdeal stake for Rs829 crore
27 Feb 2014
US-based online retailer eBay has snapped up a bigger stake in New Delhi-based online marketplace Snapdeal.com by investing $133.77 million (around Rs829 crore).
This is in addition to the $50 million that an eBay-led group invested in Snapdeal last year.
Nasdaq-listed eBay is majority-owned by a group of investors, including Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Saama Capital.
''Accelerating growth in India and other emerging markets continues to be a core strategy for driving eBay's global e-commerce leadership. eBay is excited about the prospects ahead for both Snapdeal and the eBay India business,'' said eBay senior vice president and Asia Paific managing director Jay Lee.
''We continue to invest in Snapdeal due to its complementary business model, good management team and strong brand," Lee added.
''We see eBay's second round of investment in Snapdeal as an endorsement of our strategy and progress. All our current institutional investors, including Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Saama Capital, have participated in this round as well, which is a strong endorsement of our team,'' said Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl.
"We are excited to grow eBay India under a great management team and to invest in the complimentary marketplace Snapdeal. India is a huge opportunity," eBay president-marketplaces Devin Wenig said in a Twitter post.
Wening said multiple brands working together would improve overall chance of success as has been proved in other markets.
Also, growing wealth, acceptance of technology and smartphone penetration will help the e-commerce market, he added.
With the current round of funding, the total investments raised so far by Snapdeal is over Rs2,457 crore.
