SoftBank is trying to sell Freecharge which is a mobile payment and wallet platform, currently owned by Snapdeal, in a separate bid. It has been evaluated to mere amount of $150-200 million, sources said. Paytm which is owned by Alibaba is said to be the leader in the bid upon fulfilment of certain conditions put forward by Paytm.
An acquaintance put some words on this topic and admonished that at this crucial stage, SoftBank should first deal with the shareholders disunity at Snapdeal’s boardroom while trying for a stronghold in Flipkart, thereafter it should involve itself in finalization of Freecharge offer.
About two years back, Snapdeal’s parent and Infotech had bought the e-wallet firm at $400 million with the partnership in stock as well as cash. Over the past couple of years, Freecharge arranged few discussions with worldwide payment paramounts including PayU and Paypal, asking to raise some new amount of capitals. Unfortunately, those discussions did not eventuate. The company was able to catch the eyes of the investors getting evaluation of $900 million during that time. The Japanese telecom and web major, motivated by Masayoshi Son, is attempting to get a stronghold in its position in the Indian market, where it has furrowed in around $2 billion in capital crosswise consumer internet startups.
In an interview with TOI, an acquaintance said that, “A lot has changed with both Snapdeal and Freecharge in the last quarter. Paytm is interested in Freecharge but only if the math is reworked. It also wants exclusive rights along with the deal to become the sole payments platform for Flipkart and Snapdeal”. Whereas, a person who is well aware with the progress conveyed that a couple of months ago, when Jasper Infotech was involved in trying to raise a valuation of almost $500million for Freecharge and at the same time Softbank was busy in approaching Vijay Sekhar Sharma who drove Paytm. The Flipkart has claimed Pho nePe that supports UPI exchanges, and has been discussing with speculators such as PayPal for a financing.
As per the source’s words, “As these e-tailers have plans to sell financial products in the long term, such exclusivity agreements will help Paytm’s financial services business “. According to sources, paytm is willing to pay $150 million, upon condition that Paytm becomes the solitaire payment option on major e-commerce sites like Flipkart and Snapdeal.