Snapdeal ends merger talks with Flipkart; to go solo

Agencies
July 31, 2017

New Delhi, Jul 31: Snapdeal today called off the USD 950 million-takeover (over Rs 6,000 crore) by Flipkart, apparently over differences in valuation and terms of what could possibly have been the largest deal in the Indian e-commerce space.

Discussions to acquire the beleagured Snapdeal by Flipkart were initiated in March but contours of the deal could not reach a finality even after several rounds.

"Snapdeal has been exploring strategic options over the last several months. The company has now decided to pursue an independent path and is terminating all strategic discussions as a result," a Snapdeal spokesperson said in a statement, without naming Flipkart.

The spokesperson added that the company will now pursue "Snapdeal 2.0" which is expected to help Snapdeal be "financially self-sustainable".

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, which holds close to 35 per cent stake in Snapdeal and one that was driving the discussions, said it supports entrepreneurs and their vision.

"...we respect the decision to pursue an independent strategy. We look forward to the results of the Snapdeal 2.0 strategy, and to remaining invested in the vibrant Indian e- commerce space," a SoftBank spokesperson said.

According to company sources, the talks ended on account of the complexity of the deal that came with multiple conditions, right from indemnity to a non-compete clause.

These did not find favour with the founders of the Gurugram-based online marketplace, they added. The sources did not wish to be named as the discussions were private.

The deal was also contingent upon a nod from Snapdeal's high-profile minority investors, including Ratan Tata and Azim Premji's investment arm, PremjiInvest.

It wasn't immediately clear if any of the minority shareholders had objected to the deal. Once a leading player in the Indian e-commerce space, Snapdeal has seen its fortunes falling amid strong competition from rivals, Amazon and Flipkart.

Its valuation plunged from a peak of about USD 6.5 billion in February 2016 to about USD 1 billion during the latest round of discussions. India's nascent e-commerce sector is witnessing an intense battle for leadership between US-based Amazon and homegrown firm, Flipkart as more Indians turn to online shopping.

The players have been pumping in millions of dollars in building infrastructure, getting sellers online as well as promotions to bring more shoppers onboard.

The decision to continue independently also comes within days of Snapdeal agreeing to sell its digital payment platform, FreeCharge, to Axis Bank for Rs 385 crore.

One of the sources said Snapdeal is now pivoting into a 'Taobao'-like open marketplace setup and with money coming in from the sale of non-core assets like Freecharge and Vulcan (when it gets completed), the company will have a run time of at a few years. Snapdeal has about 1,200 employees.

In an e-mail to employees last week, Bahl had indicated that the company may decide to continue independently. Bahl had said the Freecharge deal would give Snapdeal the "necessary boost in resources" to continue its e-commerce journey.

The discussions with Flipkart stretched over five months for a number of reasons. SoftBank worked overtime to get early investors, Kalaari and Nexus Venture Partners -- who also have Board representation -- to agree to the deal.

After their approval, Snapdeal Board turned down Flipkart's USD 800-850 million (about Rs 5,500 crore) offer, saying the amount undervalued the company.

While Flipkart revised the offer to USD 900-950 million, it came with a number of riders that did not find favour with the company.

There have been reports suggesting that SoftBank was looking at picking up stake in Flipkart through the Snapdeal transaction.

With the deal now off, reports say SoftBank may look at investing in Flipkart separately, though it could not be independently verified.

Greyhound Research chief analyst and CEO Sanchit Vir Gogia said Snapdeal 2.0 will need the company to have a different approach to survive and thrive.

"They will have to take a specialised approach to ensure they can continue. The market is now clearly open to a third player after Amazon and Flipkart, possibly to Paytm," he said.

Gogia also noted that the development should also be a reminder to startups that "they should not take consumers and investors for granted". "Valuation alone doesn't help keep a business alive," he said.

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Agencies
January 12,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 12: A recent study has claimed that people end up wasting almost an entire day when they take a vacation.

This can happen while standing in a queue or searching for places to visit, people do not keep a count of the time they have actually utilised during the trip. As a result, they end up doing much lesser activities than they originally had planned.

According to a recent report in Fox News, the study has also shared the fact that people try to justify time waste with planning and scheduling activities whereas the truth is that these things can be done well ahead to save time during the trip.

The average time waste according to the study commissioned by Sykes Holiday Cottages also said the people taking a seven days' trip waste a minimum of 17-and-a-half hours to figure out various factors.

But there are other causes involved as well. When one visits any crowded location, the real-time spent to enjoy the location is lesser than the time spent on reaching and trying to get involved. For instance, if one visits an amusement park, the activities take lesser time than the preparatory and other phases.

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News Network
February 16,2020

New Delhi, Feb 16: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said everyone is unhappy in the society and constantly agitating notwithstanding a "many-fold rise" in materialistic comforts and pleasures.

Addressing a gathering of Sangh workers and intellectuals here in Gujarat, Mr Bhagwat also said that even political parties who are not in power are also agitating.

"Inspite of increase in comforts and materialistic pleasures, everyone is unhappy and is staging agitations. Be it owner or servant, a party in opposition, the common man students, teachers, everyone is unhappy and dissatisfied," the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief said.

He was speaking on the topic "India's Role in the Present World Context".

Mr Bhagwat further said that bigotry, violence and terrorism are on the rise in the present world.

"India has to give 'dharma'  (wisdom) to the world so that knowledge spreads but humans do not become robotic. We have always talked about the concept of global family but not global market," he said.

The lecture was organised by "Madhav Smruti Nyas", an organisation backed by the RSS.

"To think that we are living in a better world is a half truth. Facilities are not evenly distributed. Rule of Jungle is prevailing. A capable person is crushing the weak to climb up. Knowledge is used more for the destruction of the world," the Sangh chief said.

Mr Bhagwat said people are also misusing social media by spreading "false information" to create controversies.

He also stated that trying to put "everyone into one uniform" is also a form of bigotry.

"US and Russia are super powers. China would become a super power too. Now, what super power nations did to others? They just took control of other countries for their own selfish agenda. These super powers gave it back only when they were asked to do so. Otherwise, they never gave anything to others," said Mr Bhagwat.

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News Network
January 31,2020

New Delhi, Jan 31: The Supreme Court Friday dismissed the plea filed by one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, Pawan Gupta, seeking review of its order rejecting his juvenility claim.

The review plea filed earlier in the day was taken up for consideration in-chamber by a bench comprising Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna. 

On January 20, the apex court had rejected the plea by Pawan who had challenged the Delhi High Court's order dismissing his juvenility claim.

Advocate A P Singh, who is representing Pawan in the case, said he filed a petition on his behalf seeking review of the top court's January 20 order on Friday.

While dismissing the plea, the top court had said there was no ground to interfere with the high court order that rejected Pawan's plea and his claim was rightly rejected by the trial court as also the high court.

It had said the matter was raised earlier in the review petition before the apex court which rejected plea of juvenility taken by Pawan and another co-accused Vinay Kumar Sharma and that order has attained finality.

Singh had argued that as per his school leaving certificate, he was a minor at the time of the offence and none of the courts, including trial court and high court, ever considered his documents.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi Police, had said Pawan's claim of juvenility was considered at each and every judicial forum and it will be a travesty of justice if the convict is allowed to raise the claim of juvenility repeatedly and at this point of time.

The trial court on January 17 issued black warrants for the second time for the execution of all the four convicts in the case -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan (25), Vinay (26) and Akshay (31) -- in Tihar jail at 6 am on February 1. Earlier, on January 7, the court had fixed January 22 as the hanging date.

As of now, only Mukesh has exhausted all his legal remedies including the clemency plea which was dismissed by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 17 and the appeal against the rejection was thrown out by the Supreme Court on January 29.

Convict Akshay's curative petition was dismissed by the top court on January 30. Another death row convict Vinay moved mercy plea before President on January 29, which is pending.

Singh has also approached the trial court seeking stay on the execution scheduled on February 1, saying the legal remedies of some of the convicts are yet to be availed.

A 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, was gang-raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, in a moving bus in south Delhi by six people before she was thrown out on the road.

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