Azim Premji, Ratan Tata’s nod also important for Flipkart-Snapdeal merger

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Snapdeal’s three major investors- SoftBank, Nexus Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital- have already agreed for e-commerce’s sale out to Flipkart. But, apart from these, a nod from Azim Premji and Ratan Tata is also required as they too have stakes in Snapdeal.
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Bloomberg reported, as per the contract, Snapdeal needs backing from the two of India's most powerful businessmen.

Nod from Premji, Tata and other several important investors is still awaited.

“If due diligence goes smoothly, a term sheet specifying cash and stock for each shareholder will follow and a final agreement could be signed by mid- to late June,” Bloomberg quoted sources as saying.

When the sale happens, Snapdeal's Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal will together receive about $30 million with a similar sum to be set aside for Snapdeal's nearly 2,000 employees.

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Kalaari Capital, one of the two early investors in the startup, is to get $30 million, while Nexus will receive twice that amount for its larger stake, they said.

Kalaari's managing director Vani Kola, an early investor in Snapdeal, told Bloomberg that she has resigned from the startup's board.

"I was done with what I needed to do,” Kola said, adding that she saw no conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, this merger will give a boost to Flipkart’s battle against Amazon, which is pumping in money in its Indian arm to grab a significant share in the market.

Flipkart raised $1.4 billion from Tencent Holdings Ltd., Microsoft Corp. and EBay Inc, taking its valuation at $11.6 billion.

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"This is a landmark deal for Flipkart and for India,” the company's co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal said in a statement. "This deal reaffirms our resolve to hasten the transformation of commerce in India through technology.

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