In an interesting development, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Co. and Foxconn Technology Group, the prime iPhone assembler, are in talks to make a joint investment of $500 million in Indian e-commerce major, Snapdeal. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and if it happens, it will mark a significant development in further catalysing the growth of the Indian e-commerce market.
Interestingly, Alibaba was earlier in talks to pick up stake in Snapdeal but the deal fell through since Alibaba was interested in a larger stake in Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd., the company that owns Snapdeal.
Snapdeal, a company launched about five years ago, is likely to see its valuation shoot up to $5 billion. The investment will mark a significant escalation in confidence in the India growth story and is likely to impact all stakeholders in the e-commerce supply chain.
Jack Ma, Founder and Chairman, set up Alibaba in 1999 and went on to build Alibaba into a major e-commerce giant. He is now in the process of taking Alibaba global through outright acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures.
With India emerging as one the fastest growing e-commerce markets, it was only natural for Jack Ma to look towards India. In November 2014, he made his first trip to the country. In his several meetings with various policymakers in India, he expressed Alibaba’s interest in working to develop the entire ecosystem for e-commerce by bringing in their experience to India.
As a follow-up to his visit, in January 2015, Alibaba signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) to facilitate greater business co-operation between Chinese and Indian SMEs.
In a move that drew a lot of attention, Ant Financial Services, a subsidiary of Alibaba, picked up a 25% stake with a $200-million investment in One97 Communications, the company that owns Paytm. This is the same company in which Ratan Tata made a personal investment earlier this year. He holds a small stake in Snapdeal as well.
Foxconn already had three mobile phone manufacturing plants located in the outskirts of Chennai, which subsequently shut down when Nokia was taken over by Microsoft. The company’s Chairman, Terry Gou has now announced his intention to set up 10-12 mobile phone manufacturing plants in India by 2020 to manufacture Apple and other smartphones.
In an interesting development, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Co. and Foxconn Technology Group, the prime iPhone assembler, are in talks to make a joint investment of $500 million in Indian e-commerce major, Snapdeal. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and if it happens, it will mark a significant development in further catalysing the growth of the Indian e-commerce market.
Interestingly, Alibaba was earlier in talks to pick up stake in Snapdeal but the deal fell through since Alibaba was interested in a larger stake in Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd., the company that owns Snapdeal.
Snapdeal, a company launched about five years ago, is likely to see its valuation shoot up to $5 billion. The investment will mark a significant escalation in confidence in the India growth story and is likely to impact all stakeholders in the e-commerce supply chain.
Jack Ma, Founder and Chairman, set up Alibaba in 1999 and went on to build Alibaba into a major e-commerce giant. He is now in the process of taking Alibaba global through outright acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures.
With India emerging as one the fastest growing e-commerce markets, it was only natural for Jack Ma to look towards India. In November 2014, he made his first trip to the country. In his several meetings with various policymakers in India, he expressed Alibaba’s interest in working to develop the entire ecosystem for e-commerce by bringing in their experience to India.
As a follow-up to his visit, in January 2015, Alibaba signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) to facilitate greater business co-operation between Chinese and Indian SMEs.
In a move that drew a lot of attention, Ant Financial Services, a subsidiary of Alibaba, picked up a 25% stake with a $200-million investment in One97 Communications, the company that owns Paytm. This is the same company in which Ratan Tata made a personal investment earlier this year. He holds a small stake in Snapdeal as well.
Foxconn already had three mobile phone manufacturing plants located in the outskirts of Chennai, which subsequently shut down when Nokia was taken over by Microsoft. The company’s Chairman, Terry Gou has now announced his intention to set up 10-12 mobile phone manufacturing plants in India by 2020 to manufacture Apple and other smartphones.
