Snapdeal Is Getting Ready For $400 Mn Fundraise; Likely To Acquire Exclusively.in

Strengthening its presence in fashion business the online marketplace Snapdeal is soon going to acquire an online site selling designer brand, Exclusively.in for an undisclosed amount. The company plans to use Exclusively to shore up its fashion offerings besides extending it to offer global bridge-to-luxury and even luxury brands, said a source close to the development.

On Saturday, ET reported that Snapdeal is in talks with investors to raise another $400  Mn that would possibly value the company at $5 Bn. “If Alibaba comes in, they will (invest) in tranches, with some milestones set to achieve,” said a Bangalore-based venture capital investor. Earlier this month there were reports that the Japanese investment firm, SoftBank is close to raise its stakes in Snapdeal from roughly 33% to more than 38% by buying shares from at least two of company’s existing investors.

India’s rapidly growing ecommerce sector is dominated by players like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal along with smaller online sellers which are looking out for a bigger platform to grow their sales and presence. Snapdeal’s this deal will add on to the acquisition brandwagon of its counter players where Flipkart had acquired Myntra and Jabong amid a consolidation drive.

Exclusively.in is an online destination for Indian luxury and lifestyle products. The site offers exclusive designer wear from top noch designers like Anita Dongre, Anju Modi, Gaurav Gupta, JJ Valaya, Kavita Bhartia and many more. Exclusively.in also powers ecommerce initiatives for Manish Malhotra, Tarun Tahiliani, AM:PM, Manish Arora, and Rohit Bal.

Exclusively founder Sunjay Guleria had sold the Sher Singh apparel brand along with co-founders to Myntra in 2012.

This deal is in league with Sanpdeal’s acquisition plans that came with a $ 627 Mn raise in October 2014 from Softbank with regards to strengthening life changing experiences for 1 Mn small businesses in India. After raising the money from Softbak, Snapdeal acquired Wishpicker, a gift recommendation site, in December.

Last year, Flipkart raised $1.9 Bn from its investors, valuing the company at $11 Bn and very recently, Flipkart was reportedly in plans to raise $5 Bn via Initial Public Offering (IPO).