Factor Daily reported at the start of the month that Alibaba was discussing acquisitions with Snapdeal. But, the rumors can finally be put to rest. On Thursday, a source aware of the situation revealed that no talks of an acquisition were underway.
Even the marketplace’s co-founder Kunal Bhal tweeted the following on Thursday:
Alibaba might have invested in Snapdeal but the Chinese ecommerce company has also invested in Snapdeal’s competitor Paytm.
Paytm recently took Snapdeal’s lead in the ecommerce rat race. Backing from Global ecommerce leader Alaibaba could have given the etailer the push it needs. But poor performance could be a reason why the foreigner isn’t interested in acquiring Snapdeal.
Before Snapdeal, it is rumored that Alibaba was in talks with Flipkart about an acquisition. But when that deal didn’t work out, it is believed that Alibaba set its sights on Snapdeal.
Many believe that Paytm will be Alibaba’s entry way into Indian ecommerce. However, the international ecommerce giant was supposedly in talks with Shopclues about an acquisition. Again, no official details were provided by either party.
Alibaba claimed 2016 would be the year it dived into the Indian online retail scene. However, the online marketplace seems to have cold feet on account of the changing ecommerce landscape.
2016 may not be the year the foreigner enters Indian online ecommerce, however it has already begun to assemble its Indian online retail team. It was looking for an office in Bangalore, In June, it hired Bharati Balakrishnan, the chief business officer at LocalOye as its first employee.
By September, Madhur Deep an executive at McKinsey and Goldman Sachs was appointed as vice president. The market entry, investments and partnerships for B2B and B2C businesses are going to be initiated by Deep, for the Alibaba Group in India.
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