Nexus Venture too backs decision to pursue Snapdeal 2.0

Nexus Venture Partners (NVP), an early investor in Snapdeal, has come out in support of the ecommerce firm’s decision to pursue “Snapdeal 2.0” instead of accepting rival Flipkart’s USD 900-950 million acquisition offer. NVP is the second investor to come out in support of Snapdeals decision, after Kenneth Glass (an early investor in Snapdeal).

Earlier this week, Snapdeal had announced that it was terminating all strategic discussions to pursue a new plan of operations that it calls “Snapdeal 2.0”.

“Nexus, as a long term Snapdeal shareholder, fully supports the Snapdeal 2.0 journey. We will continue to partner with the company to help achieve its goals,” the investment firm said in an emailed statement.

NVP also has a seat on Snapdeal’s Board that has representation from SoftBank (2 seats), Kalaari Capital and the two founders — Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.

After the announcement by Snapdeal, there were reports that the decision had not gone down well with a section of the companys shareholders. According to a report by ET Now, Vani Kola — co-founder of Kalaari Capital — had criticised the move.

“I am extremely disappointed and shocked with the founders and their disregard for investors and the employees interest,” she was quoted as saying.

SoftBank, the largest shareholder in Snapdeal and the one driving the merger discussions with Flipkart, has said it respected the decision to pursue an independent strategy. While the Japanese conglomerate holds close to 35 per cent stake in Snapdeal, there are a number of minority stakeholders. These include high-profile names like Ratan Tata and PremjiInvest (investment arm of Azim Premji). Other investors include Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Foxconn, Temasek and BlackRock.