Bahl aims to re-write the Snapdeal story after selling Freecharge

Right after the sale of its mobile wallet platform ‘Freecharge’ to Axis Bank for INR 385

Crore, Snapldeal’s co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl, is looking forward to ‘revamp’ the e-

commerce platform and save it from being acquired by  Flipkart ; an acquisition disguised

as a ‘merger’. SoftBank Corp which holds around 33% shares in Snapdeal is trying to forge

the merger over past 6 months to make its way to Flipkart’s shares.

Kunal however has different plans. In a letter to Snapdeal employees Thursday, Bahl said

the FreeCharge deal has given the troubled firm another chance to turn things around

before getting pushed into a merger. "For Snapdeal, this is also a great outcome as it

provides us the necessary boost in resources to continue our journey towards building an

e-commerce platform that enables sellers across India to reach consumers in every corner

of the country. With the massive revolution happening in our country in the realms of

very cost effective data, affordable smartphones, a unified GST tax regime, better

infrastructure and rising income levels, there is no better time to be in this business,"

Bahl wrote to the Snapdeal staff who have been working under uncertain circumstances

since the beginning of the year.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. Building FreeCharge has been

a tremendously enriching experience for us. And now, it is time for us to focus our

energy and passion on continuing the Snapdeal journey," Bahl wrote in an e-mail which was

reviewed by TOI.

Bahl and co-founder Rohit Bansal are trying to make a standalone move by selling

snapdeal’s independent assets like FreeCharge and its logistics business Vulcan.

 

TOI reported in its July 28 edition that SoftBank has now toughened its stand on the

merger and may go ahead and invest in Flipkart separately without taking along Snapdeal.

Moreover many high-profile shareholders including Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan

Tata, Temasek, BlackRock and Foxxconn have already given an affirmative nod to a merger.

"For Snapdeal, this is also a great outcome as it provides us the necessary boost in

resources to continue our journey towards building an e-commerce platform that enables

sellers across India to reach consumers in every corner of the country. With the massive

revolution happening in our country in the realms of very cost effective data, affordable

smartphones, a unified GST tax regime, better infrastructure and rising income levels,

there is no better time to be in this business. We have an opportunity of a lifetime

here, and we must seize it and make the most of it," Bahl said.

Snapdeal has also held talks with other possible suitors like e-commerce firm Infibeam,

again an indication that a merger with Flipkart is seeming unlikely.

 

Source: Economic Times