Paytm, Snapdeal deal closer home as Alibaba bets $177M on former

Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba, is leading a $200 million funding round in Indian digital payments company Paytm. Alibaba Singapore E-Commerce, according to a Registrar of Companies filing, will invest about $177 million in the Vijay Shekhar Sharma led company. The rest is expected to come from SAIF Partners. The digital payments company, announced earlier this week that it has crossed 200 million wallet users and also launched a separate app — Paytm Mall — for its e-commerce venture. Alibaba, along with its sister concern Ant Financial (formerly Alipay), hold about 40% in Paytm. Fresh money will likely raise the Chinese firm’s stake to 60%. While the latest funding does let Alibaba formally enter the Indian e-commerce scene, it also could lead to a possible acquisition of under-stress e-commerce company, Snapdeal by Paytm. Murmurs of consolidation between the two have been going on for quite some time. Read More: Snapdeal an important cog in Indian startup wheel; don’t RIP yet Alibaba has about 5% stake in Snapdeal, which in the wake of drying funds, announced to restructure the company and lay-off about 600 employees, last month. It shut down Shopo, its online marketplace for Indian designer and handcrafted products last month. Prior to that Snapdeal had abruptly suspended an incentive program for customers that it employs through affiliates. Alibaba would certainly use Paytm Mall to host sellers from its investment markets — Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.