One of India’s leading online stores, Flipkart said on Thursday it had acquired rival retailer Letsbuy.com in an e-commerce industry consolidation move days after global e-tailing giant Amazon.com started its store in India.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Reuters,
quoted unnamed sources, says the value of the part-equity, part-cash deal was in the region of
Rs. 100 to 125 crore.
The aggressively-growing Flipkart, led by founder-CEO Sachin Bansal, has been speculated as a $1-billion (Rs 5000 crore) valuation company, and pursues a nimble strategy that focuses on customer relations. It sells books, electronic goods and other items.
The deal is expected to aid the expansion of both entities.
“This acquisition fits into our strategy of building dominant shares in all categories we operate in. We are already leaders in the books and media verticals,” Bansal said, describing the terms of the deal as “attractive.”
“We believe that our expertise in 3Cs — computers, communication and consumer electronics — category matched with Flipkart’s superior technology and supply chain could be a killer combination,” said Hitesh Dhingra, Letsbuy.com’s founder and CEO.
“Both companies are working out the synergies of the deal and till such time that the details are worked out both Flipkart and Letsbuy will continue to function as two separate companies. Discussions are still underway and it is still premature to talk about what roles will Letsbuy’s leadership team play in the combined entity,” a Flipkart spokesperson told Hindustan Times.
Letsbuy.com has a staff of 350.