EBay Close To Investing $160-$170 Million In Paytm Mall – This Is When Its Biggest Investors Alibaba & SoftBank Will Not Be Investing More Money

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US-based online marketplace giant eBay has begun talks to lead a $160-$170 million strategic investment in Paytm Mall, as it looks to explore an offline-to-online commerce and payments strategy in India, said two people aware of the deal. This is as per a report in the Economic Times.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

eBay will continue to run its independent online portal in India, these sources said.

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma took board approval to bring in a new strategic investor in December, sensing that Alibaba and SoftBank would not be pumping in fresh capital into the e-commerce company. As per another report by the same newspaper the largest investor in the company, Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, realised then that Paytm’s volumes, driven largely by cashbacks, would not be a sustainable business.

Source: Jagran

The eBay deal is likely to be announced next month, and would mark the US online retailer’s third bet, after Snapdeal and Flipkart, in an Indian e-commerce player.

Last year, eBay exited Flipkart for $1.1 billion following Walmart’s acquisition of Flipkart. eBay had a 6.55% stake in Flipkart.

In 2017, eBay sold its India operations to Flipkart as part of a broader funding round but re-launched its India operations in last year. It still holds around 5% stake in Snapdeal, regulatory filings show.

“Ebay has been looking to invest in e-commerce ever since it sold its stake in Flipkart,” said a source, adding the company believes India is a significant and growing market.



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